A PAIR OF GILT-SILVER ROSEWATER SPRINKLERSINDIA, POSSIBLY LUCKNOW, 19TH CENTURY147⁄8 in. (37.8 cm.) highDetails147⁄8 in. (37.8 cm.) highProvenanceSotheby’s New York, 28 March 1996, lot 354.Bonhams London, 30 April 2019, lot 155.In Mughal art, gardens symbolized pleasure and imperial power. Mughal architecture was splendidly embellished with well-designed gardens, while artists and artisans considered garden imagery an important aspect of all paintings and decorative objects. The present rosewater sprinklers exemplify this practice with their multi-petaled spouts and elaborate floral grounds worked in silver. Garden fragrances, like rosewater, also shaped noble self-presentation and romance between imperial men and their courtiers. Compare the present lot to a gilt-silver rosewater sprinkler from Lucknow, circa 1775-1800, at the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution (acc. no. F1990.1) which implements similar garden images. ---