The spittoon would have been used for collecting saliva produced by chewing paan. Spittoons used at court could be elaborately decorated. This example is of bidri ware, a metalworking technique named after the Deccani city of Bidar, where is traditionally thought to have originated. The bottom half of the spittoon resembles the bell shape often seen in huqqa bases from around the 1730s, while the upper half is an inverted version of the same shape, but open at the top to receive the spittle. The ring moulding joining the two halves has the chevron inlay pattern common in bidri work and three horizontal rows of petals decorate the top and bottom of the upper section and the bottom of the foot. However, the bold diagonal bands of inlay in this nineteenth-century piece represent a departure from the floral motifs seen in most bidri ware.