Tortoise-shaped White Porcelain Water Dropper with in Underglaze Copper and Cobalt Blue

Joseon Period (19th Century)

This water dropper is modeled as a turtle with its head raised upward, resting upon a wave-shaped, flower-form bowl that evokes the surface of a pond, while a gourd-shaped vessel serving as the water inlet rises from the turtle's back — a composition that captures with delightful imagination the image of a turtle carrying a gourd across the water. The body of the gourd is decorated with bands of lotus-petal motifs and shippo (seven-treasure) patterns; the rippling, flower-shaped bowl bears wave and aquatic plant motifs; the area around the turtle's mouth is accented in celadon-blue (cheongchae); and the edges of the turtle's shell are painted in copper-red (dongchae) — the combination of colors animating the scene with vivid naturalistic effect. A white porcelain glaze with a faint suffusion of pale blue is applied across the entire surface with an even luster. Produced at the Bunwon-ri kiln in Gwangju during the nineteenth century, this turtle-shaped water dropper is a work of exceptional inventiveness and sculptural accomplishment — one of the most characterful and individually conceived pieces within the tradition of Joseon figural water droppers. The vessel was used as a water dropper for adding water to the inkstone.