Indian Pichkari or Holy Festival Sprayer

Slim and dark, a ringed cylinder rises to a pointed little finial.

This pichkari, or festival sprayer is from India, and dates to the early 20th century. It is bronze. A pichkari is a syringe-style squirt device used in India to spray colored water during Holi, the spring festival of color. Blackened and tarnished, the tube is covered in bands of turned rings with a fine beaded border near the top. A tapering, knobbed cap sits above, and the surface has an even, worn patina. It is 2 inches wide, 2 deep and 14.5 high.

Built like a tiny lighthouse and just as fussy about its stripes.