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Base for a Water Pipe (Huqqa) with Irises

late 17th century
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 463
This huqqa base, with irises and other flowers, would have originally been fitted with a long stem supporting a brazier and a pipe through which the smoker would have inhaled.

Many of the known examples of Indian huqqa bases from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were made in the Deccan region and decorated with the type of metal inlay known as bidri, in which the base metal (a zinc alloy) of the object is darkened through a chemical process to highlight the sheen of the inlaid metal of the floral ornament.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Base for a Water Pipe (Huqqa) with Irises
  • Date: late 17th century
  • Geography: Made in India, Deccan, Bidar
  • Medium: Zinc alloy; cast, engraved, inlaid with brass (bidri ware)
  • Dimensions: H. 6 7/8 in. (17.5 cm)
    Diam. 6 1/2 in. (16.5 cm)
  • Classification: Metal
  • Credit Line: Louis E. and Theresa S. Seley Purchase Fund for Islamic Art and Rogers Fund, 1984
  • Object Number: 1984.221
  • Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

Audio

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6620. Base for a Water Pipe (huqqa) with Irises

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More Artwork

More Artwork
Bidri Box for Holding Pan, Zinc alloy; cast, engraved, inlaid with silver and brass (bidri ware)
Bidri Box for Holding Pan
early–mid 17th century
Water Pipe Top, Zinc alloy; cast, engraved, inlaid with brass (bidri ware)
Water Pipe Top
19th century
"Akbar With Lion and Calf", Folio from the Shah Jahan Album, Govardhan, Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
"Akbar With Lion and Calf", Folio from the Shah Jahan Album
Painting by Govardhan
Calligrapher Mir 'Ali Haravi
verso: ca. 1630; recto: ca. 1530–50
Water Pipe Base, Zinc alloy; cast, engraved, inlaid with silver and brass (bidri ware)
Water Pipe Base
18th–19th century
"Shah Jahan on a Terrace, Holding a Pendant Set With His Portrait", Folio from the Shah Jahan Album, Chitarman Indian, Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
"Shah Jahan on a Terrace, Holding a Pendant Set With His Portrait", Folio from the Shah Jahan Album
Painted by Chitarman
recto: dated 1627–28; verso: ca. 1530–50

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