Two famille verte biscuit porcelain water droppers

Kangxi period, 1662 – 1722
Height: 6.5 cm | 2 5/8 in

Click image for full-size version

The water droppers are modelled in the form of cupped lotus leaves that act as reservoirs. Each of their knobbly hollow stalks rises up against the body of a floating duck that is attached to the leaf; water passes through the stems – to control the water flow as it is dropped onto ink. The mandarin ducks are glazed on the ‘biscuit’ in a combination of brown, yellow, and green (known as ‘egg and spinach’); their beaks are left unglazed, and the lotus leaves glazed green on the exterior – with one yellow, the other green on the interior.

The duck and lotus motifs are frequently combined as a symbol of marital bliss. Ducks mate for life, and the lotus flower (hehua or lianhua) symbolizes marriage – he being a homophone for ‘harmony,’ and lian a homophone for ‘continuous’. Depicted together, these motifs traditionally express an archaic wish – for the marriage to be blessed with sons!

Similar example: The Copeland Collection, Chinese and Japanese Ceramic Figures, The Peabody Museum of Salem, by William R. Sargent, 1991 – no.7.

Provenance: Bluett and Sons, London – label to the base of one dropper.