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Aug 2, 2012

Hookah Base

c. 1700

India, Mughal Dynasty

(1526-1756)

Gold on blue glass

Overall: 19.8 cm (7 13/16 in.)

Cornelia Blakemore Warner Fund 1961.44

Location

116 Islamic

Exhibition

Art of the Islamic World (Islamic art rotation)

Did you know?

The neckpiece was made separately and attached to the blown glass bowl.

Description

Smoking tobacco was introduced to the Mughal court from Iran in the very early 1600s and soon became popular. This base formed part of a hookah, or water pipe, which consisted of a base that held water—sometimes perfumed with herbs or fresh fruit—a detachable bowl to hold tobacco, and a long tube. Early hookahs used existing vessels for bases, including coconut shells. By the late 1600s or early 1700s, richly decorated pieces like this were produced. The striking gold poppies on a cobalt blue background might indicate that opium was used in the hookah.

Provenance

?-1961

(Khalil Rabenou [1902-1961], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)

1961-

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

Welch, Stuart Cary. The Art of Mughal India: Painting & Precious Objects. New York: Distributed by H.N. Abrams, 1963. Mentioned: p. 174, no. 80

Dikshit, Moreshwar Gangadhar. History of Indian Glass. [Bombay]: University of Bombay, 1969. Reproduced: pl. IIA

Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook. [Cleveland]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 312 archive.org

Carboni, Stefano, and David Whitehouse. Glass of the Sultans. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 138, pp. 284-285

Carboni, Stefano, and David Whitehouse. Glass of the Sultans. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001. Reproduced: cat. no. 138, pp. 284-285 libmma.contentdm.oclc.org

Du Pasquier, Jacqueline. Histoire du verre: les chefs-d'oeuvre de l'Islam. Paris: Massin, 2007. p. 124

Exhibition history

Year in Review (1961). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 1-26, 1961).

Glass of the Sultans. The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY (May 24-September 3, 2001); The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (October 2, 2001-January 13, 2002); Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece (February 20-May 15, 2002).

Art and Stories from Mughal India. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (July 31-October 23, 2016).

Paintings of Bikaner – Indian Gallery 242 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (November 7, 2019-April 5, 2020).

Art of the Islamic World (Islamic art rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (May 21, 2021-May 31, 2022).

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=Hookah Base|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1961.44|year=c. 1700|access-date=16 May 2022|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Hookah Base

Hookah Base

India, Mughal Dynasty

Location

Exhibition

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Description

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