Rectangular White Porcelain Water Dropper with Plum and Bamboo Design in Underglaze Cobalt Blue

Joseon Period (18th Century)

This water dropper takes a square, block-like form reminiscent of a block of tofu. A frog is modeled on the edge of the upper surface, and a second frog is applied to the side edge in the posture of climbing upward — the mouth of each frog serving as a water inlet. The upper surface is decorated in underglaze blue with fully opened plum blossoms and bamboo, while the sides bear compositions of scholar's rocks (goeseok) and flowering plants — all rendered with a clean precision and dignified refinement entirely in keeping with the spirit of the scholar's desk. A white porcelain glaze with a faint suffusion of pale blue is applied with care across the entire surface, imparting an even and polished luster. The base is flat, with traces of clay-mixed kiln supports on which the piece was fired. Among the many scholarly desk objects produced at the Bunwon-ri kiln in Gwangju during the latter half of the eighteenth century, a water dropper bearing prunus and bamboo decoration in underglaze blue of so refined and accomplished a quality is exceptionally rare. The vessel was used as a water dropper for adding water to the inkstone.