Kalian

1625-1675
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This ceramic vessel is a ‘kalian’ or base for a water-pipe used in the newly introduced practice of smoking tobacco. It held the water through which the smoke was drawn in order to cool it using a long flexible tube connected to a container through two holes. They are also known as a hookah, huqqa, qalian, qalyan, qaliyan, narghile, shisha, and a hubble-bubble.

Object details

Category
Object type
Materials and techniques
Fritware, slip-painted, glazed
Brief description
Kalian (water-pipe base), fritware, ovoid with a pierced opening on the top and shoulder, covered with reddish-brown glaze and painted in white slip; Iran, 1625-1675.
Physical description
Kalian or base for a water pipe (hookah) of fritware, of ovoid shape, and pierced with a hole on the top and another smaller on the upper shoulder, and covered in rust-coloured wash and painted in white slip, and centered around the upper orifice with a six-pointed star terminating in shield-shaped palmettes filled in with arabesques, and covered in a thin clear matte glaze, possibly misfired.
Dimensions
  • Height: 17.1cm
  • Diameter: 15.9cm
Style
Credit line
Given by C. M. Marling, Esq.
Subjects depicted
Summary
This ceramic vessel is a ‘kalian’ or base for a water-pipe used in the newly introduced practice of smoking tobacco. It held the water through which the smoke was drawn in order to cool it using a long flexible tube connected to a container through two holes. They are also known as a hookah, huqqa, qalian, qalyan, qaliyan, narghile, shisha, and a hubble-bubble.
Collection
Accession number
1012-1905

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Record createdFebruary 19, 2009
Record URL
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