Aspersorium with zoomorphic decoration, North India, Lucknow, first half of the 19th centuryGilt metal with red paint highlights, aspersorium on a circular pedestal lined with foliage with a body animated by a pair of peacocks on either side of a lion protome and surmounted by a bifid neck consisting of two elephant trunks coiled to end in a pommel plant representing a corolla of palms Height : 39 cmShock , gilding and polychromy jumps . Generally made in pairs, this type of object was used in India for important ceremonies such as weddings. A preparatory drawing for a similar aspersorium, dated 1780-1820, is published by Linda York Leach, Paintings from India, Oxford, 1998, cat. 56, pp. 190-1. For a very similar sprinkler sold at auction, see Christie's, London, 1 October 2012, lot 14 and 24 April 2015, lot 61. A Large Parcel-Gilt Rosewater Sprinkler Decorated with Peacocks, Elephants and a Lion Head, North India, Lucknow, circa 1800-50