Kalian or water-pipe, fritware, of flattened bottle form, underglaze painted in blue with side panels with flower motif is red and green slip, under a clear glaze; Iran, probably Kirman, 1650-1700.

Kalian or water-pipe, fritware, of flattened high-shouldered bottle shape, the flared neck of octafoil section, the shoulder with foliate moulded opening for the pipe, on a spreading foot, underglaze painted in blue with stylized foliage, the flat raised side panels painted iwth sprays of red slip flower and green slip foliage.

This object was purchased in Tehran in 1873, by Robert Murdoch Smith on behalf of the Museum. In his first bulk acquisition for the South Kensington Museum (today the V&A), Murdoch Smith had bought "a considerable collection" of over 100 examples of metalwork, ceramic, inlaid woodwork and textile from different local sources, including French diplomat Emile Charles Bernay and four art-dealers: Nasrullah Dellal, Abu'l-Hassan Dellal, Abdul-Husayn and Reza Kashi of Tehran. Many further acquisitions followed in the years 1873-1878 and 1883-1885, most extensively from the art-dealer Jules Richard, long resident in Tehran.

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A kalian is an oriental 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.

439-1874