Rare Korean Water Dropper in Doughnut Form Joseon Dynasty

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A Korean blue and white porcelain water dropper in a rare hallowed out doughnut shape from Joseon Dynasty circa 1800s. … Read more A Korean blue and white porcelain water dropper in a rare hallowed out doughnut shape from Joseon Dynasty circa 1800s. The octagonal water dropper is covered in a brilliant white glaze with blue underglaze painting. The scenery depicts a wooded hilly landscape with figures crossing on a bridge-like structure under abstract forms of mountains and oceans. On four out of the eight side walls, four Bagua divination trigrams were painted, suggesting this might be one of the pair made, as the other one would carry the complimentary trigrams. The short sprout and the refill air hole are on the opposite side. Water droppers in this form was much desired in Joseon time, but they were difficult to make technically and not many are extant. This is a wonderful example, well-preserved.
The piece was probably made in late 18th, possibly early 19th century as the Bagua trigrams motif was most popular during middle to late 18th century, but the scenery painting suggests a slightly later period. The recessed foot ring bears some kiln marks and glaze defects as shown. The water dropper was from a Japanese collection. It comes with a wood tomobako storage box with a paper label that read "Li Dynasty Blue and White Porcelain Water Dropper".
Water droppers are small containers made from different materials such as ceramic and metal. It was used by scholars to add drops of water onto the ink stone when preparing for calligraphy. Over time, these small pieces evolved into miniature art with various sculptural form.
For a water dropper in a similar octagonal form with Bagua trigrams see item acc. no 21223 in the Ataka collection at the Musuem of Oriental Ceramics in Osaka, Japan. It is illustrated in pate 111 on page 147 in the book "The Radiance of Jade and the Clarity of Water". See less