The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 20, 2023

Hookah Base

c. 1700

India, Mughal Dynasty

(1526-1756)

Gold on blue glass

Overall: 19.8 cm (7 13/16 in.)

Cornelia Blakemore Warner Fund 1961.44

Location

116 Islamic

Fun Fact

The neckpiece was made separately and attached to the blown glass bowl.

Description

Smoking tobacco was introduced to the Mughal court from Iran in the very early 1600s and soon became popular. This base formed part of a hookah, or water pipe, which consisted of a base that held water—sometimes perfumed with herbs or fresh fruit—a detachable bowl to hold tobacco, and a long tube. Early hookahs used existing vessels for bases, including coconut shells. By the late 1600s or early 1700s, richly decorated pieces like this were produced. The striking gold poppies on a cobalt blue background might indicate that opium was used in the hookah.

Provenance
?-1961
(Khalil Rabenou [1902-1961], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1961-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Welch, Stuart Cary. The Art of Mughal India: Painting & Precious Objects. New York: Distributed by H.N. Abrams, 1963. Mentioned: p. 174, no. 80
Dikshit, Moreshwar Gangadhar. History of Indian Glass. [Bombay]: University of Bombay, 1969. Reproduced: pl. IIA
Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook. [Cleveland]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 312 archive.org
Carboni, Stefano, and David Whitehouse. Glass of the Sultans. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 138, pp. 284-285
Carboni, Stefano, and David Whitehouse. Glass of the Sultans. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001. Reproduced: cat. no. 138, pp. 284-285 libmma.contentdm.oclc.org
Du Pasquier, Jacqueline. Histoire du verre: les chefs-d'oeuvre de l'Islam. Paris: Massin, 2007. p. 124
Exhibition history

Year in Review (1961). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 1-26, 1961).

Art of Mughal India. The Asia Society Museum, New York, NY (organizer) (January 15, 1964-March 25, 1963).

Glass of the Sultans. The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY (May 24-September 3, 2001); The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (October 2, 2001-January 13, 2002); Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece (February 20-May 15, 2002).

Art and Stories from Mughal India. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (July 31-October 23, 2016).

Paintings of Bikaner – Indian Gallery 242 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (November 7, 2019-April 5, 2020).

Art of the Islamic World (Islamic art rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (May 21, 2021-May 31, 2022).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1961.44