Perfume Sprinkler (Qumqum)

Unknown

11th–mid-13th century · Greenish glass; blown, applied blown foot, applied decoration · Islamic Art

This long-necked glass bottle with a ring-shaped body would have been used for disseminating rosewater or another aromatic substance mixed with water. Rosewater was used for cooking and as a perfume to be sprinkled on guests at the end of a meal. The production of such sprinklers in Syria from the late eleventh to the mid-thirteenth century reflects another aspect of courtly manners in which attractiveness in all its forms was prized.

Artist

Unknown

Date

11th–mid-13th century

Medium

Greenish glass; blown, applied blown foot, applied decoration

Department

Islamic Art

Credit line

Purchase, Richard S. Perkins Gift, 1977