Blue and gilt base for a water pipe (hookah), ca. 1800–1840 (Mughal period)
Blue glass, mould blown, copper-wheel engraved, gilt
(H x Ø)17,9 x 16,8 cm
Place of originNorthern India
About the workMuslim Mughal rule shaped northern India for over two centuries before gradually losing power in the eighteenth century. Smoking together through a hookah was a common gesture of hospitality among the nobility of the Mughal Empire. Potentially an originally Indian invention, the hookah returned to India with Persian culture. In the eighteenth century, the bell-shaped water vessel gradually replaced the older spherical one. Glassware was imported to India from countries other than England, so this “huqqa” may even have been produced in Europe.
AccessionAcquisition 1981
Inventory numberP 1981-296
