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

huqqa base

Huqqa Base
ca. 1886 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Jaipur School of Art produced pottery in the late 19th century after one of the pupils of Bhola, who was a chief artist of Delhi fritware, introduced the technique. As the pieces were made of a mixture of feldspar and starch they could not be thrown on a wheel but were either raised by hand or in a mould. Pickle jars or martabans, as they were locally known, owing to the fort on the coast of Burma through which they were imported into India, were first copied in Delhi and later at Jaipur, where they were decorated in response to European taste.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Titlehuqqa base (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Ground feldspar and starch with underglaze painting
Brief description
Huqqa base; glazed earthenware, Jaipur, ca. 1886.
Physical description
This huqqa base is vase shaped with a long narrow neck on a raised foot. It is painted in turquoise and blue against a white ground in vertical bands and compartments ornamented with simple stylised floral and geometrical designs.
Dimensions
  • Height: 24.1cm
  • Diameter: 11.4cm
Style
Credit line
Purchased from the Colonial and Indian Exhibition held in London in 1886
Object history
This object was shown in the Colonial and Indian Exhibition ,London, 1886
Historical context
Jaipur School of Art produced pottery in the late 19th century after one of the pupils of Bhola, who was a chief artist of Delhi fritware, introduced the technique. As the pieces were made of a mixture of feldspar and starch they could not be thrown on a wheel but were either raised by hand or in a mould. Pickle jars or martabans, as they were locally known, owing to the fort on the coast of Burma through which they were imported into India, were first copied in Delhi and later at Jaipur, where they were decorated in response to European taste. See Watt, Sir George,Indian Art at Delhi: being the Official Catalogue of the Delhi Exhibition, 1902-03, Calcutta, n.d, p.90.
Summary
Jaipur School of Art produced pottery in the late 19th century after one of the pupils of Bhola, who was a chief artist of Delhi fritware, introduced the technique. As the pieces were made of a mixture of feldspar and starch they could not be thrown on a wheel but were either raised by hand or in a mould. Pickle jars or martabans, as they were locally known, owing to the fort on the coast of Burma through which they were imported into India, were first copied in Delhi and later at Jaipur, where they were decorated in response to European taste.
Collection
Accession number
IS.136-1886

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Record createdNovember 14, 2002
Record URL
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