Kalian thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Ceramics, Room 137, The Curtain Foundation Gallery

Kalian

ca. 1650-1700 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

A kalian is a tobacco pipe with a long flexible tube connected to a container where the smoke is cooled by passing through water. They are also known as a hookah, huqqa, qalian, qalyan, qaliyan, narghile, shisha, and a hubble-bubble.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Fritware, painted in green and red slip and underglaze blue
Brief description
Kalian (water-pipe base), fritware, underglaze-painted in cobalt blue with green and red slip with panels of flowering plants; Iran, 1650-1700.
Physical description
Kalian, or hookah base, decorated around the body with green and red slip-painted carnation sprays contrasting with blue lotus flowers
Dimensions
  • Height: 29cm
  • Diameter: 19cm
Production
"Kirman Polychrome"
Summary
A kalian is a tobacco pipe with a long flexible tube connected to a container where the smoke is cooled by passing through water. They are also known as a hookah, huqqa, qalian, qalyan, qaliyan, narghile, shisha, and a hubble-bubble.
Collection
Accession number
1086-1883

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
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