鳥のくちばしを思わせる細い注ぎ口と、大きな輪形の把手を持つ銅製のジョウロ。一枚の金属板を叩き延ばしながら立体的な器形に仕立てる「鎚起（ついき）」という技法で作られ、胴に残るおおらかな凹凸はその際の槌目です。緑がかった黒褐色の古色は、銅の表面が長年の酸化によって変化した緑青（ろくしょう）によるもので、保管環境の湿度などに左右されながら経年で形成されます。 波型に縁取られた大きな注水口とは別に、肩の位置から細く伸びた注ぎ口を備える二口構造は、水を注ぎ入れる口と、株元へ静かに注ぐための口を使い分ける、ジョウロならではの造りです。かつては中庭や温室の鉢植えなどに使われていたと考えられます。長い年月を経た器の存在感があります。ドイツ、17〜18世紀。

A copper watering can with a slender spout evoking a bird's beak and a large ring-form handle. It was made using a technique called "raising," in which a flat sheet of metal is hammered into a three-dimensional vessel form; the generous unevenness across the body is the trace of that hammer work. Its greenish, blackened-brown patina comes from verdigris -- the copper surface gradually oxidizing over the years, its exact color shaped by the conditions it was kept in. The wide, scalloped-rim mouth for filling and the separate, slender spout rising from the shoulder are a two-opening structure characteristic of a watering can, one opening for filling and the other for pouring gently at a plant's roots. It's thought to have been used for potted plants in a courtyard or greenhouse. It carries the presence of a vessel that has passed through centuries. Germany, 17th-18th century.