Huqqa mouthpiece, brown chalcedony, waisted, carved crossed left- and right-handed spiral channels, India

A huqqa mouthpiece, fashioned in brown chalcedony with a waisted constriction approximately half way along its length and which is wide with a raised central ridge.
On one side of the waist, the body is wide and of the same external diameter, with a wide bore. The outer surface has been carved with crossed left- and right-handed spiral channels that are bounded on either end by a circumferential channel.
On the other side of the waist, the body narrows and has a narrow hole drilled down its length, through to the other half. On its surface, adjacent to the waist ,there is a band of parallel, angled channels, bounded by a circumferential channel at the waist side, and two circumferential channels at the narrower end.

This huqqa mouthpiece was acquired by William Tayler during his time in India (1829-1867). He subsequently sold it to the South Kensington Museum (later renamed the Victoria & Albert Museum) in 1874 for the sum of £1-8-0.

William Tayler was educated in England at Charterhouse and also spent a term at Christ Church, Oxford. He entered service with the East India Company on 30th April 1829, arriving in India in October of the same year. He held various posts in Bengal and was appointed Commissioner of Patna in 1855. During his service, he was able to acquire many objects, including hardstones, relating to the customs and religions of India as well as objects from other parts of South Asia.
He was criticised for his handling of the uprisings in Northern India and was moved to a lesser post before being suspended, ultimately resigning on 29th March 1859. He then practised as an advocate in the law courts of Bengal before returning to England in 1867.
He wrote a book about his experiences, entitled Thirty-eight Years in India, in which he states that "After my return to England, circumstances induced me, though with great reluctance, to part with the collection which is now in the South Kensington Museum".

The huqqa, a water pipe, was smoked extensively at the Mughal court. Tobacco was introduced to India by the Portuguese in the early sixteenth century and first brought to the Mughal Empire of northern India in 1604, by the emissary Asad Beg. This chalcedony mouthpiece would have been used to inhale smoke drawn from a water bowl, or huqqa base, via a long flexible tube.

705-1874