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Source Description
Hookah bowls were used for the enjoyment of tobacco or any other smoked substance during moments of relaxation. They were also aesthetic objects to be admired in elite gatherings of connoisseurs. The flowering rose bushes on this fine early example, made shortly after the introduction of tobacco-smoking in India, would have called to mind celebrated poetical works, such as the <em>Gulistan </em>(Rose Garden) of Sa'di (Persian, 1210–1291 or 1292).
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
387679
label
Bidri Hookah Bowl with Roses
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
387679
contentType
object
title
Bidri Hookah Bowl with Roses
description
Hookah bowls were used for the enjoyment of tobacco or any other smoked substance during moments of relaxation. They were also aesthetic objects to be admired in elite gatherings of connoisseurs. The flowering rose bushes on this fine early example, made shortly after the introduction of tobacco-smoking in India, would have called to mind celebrated poetical works, such as the <em>Gulistan </em>(Rose Garden) of Sa'di (Persian, 1210–1291 or 1292).
date
c. 1650s
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q117244812
genreSpecific
Metalwork
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Diameter: 16.5 cm (6 1/2 in.); height: 18.5 cm (7 5/16 in.)
cul
Southwestern India, Deccan, Karnataka, Bidar
accession
2020.207
Source extras
tec
Zinc alloy with silver and brass inlay
tombstone
Bidri Hookah Bowl with Roses, c. 1650s. Southwestern India, Deccan, Karnataka, Bidar. Zinc alloy with silver and brass inlay; diameter: 16.5 cm (6 1/2 in.); height: 18.5 cm (7 5/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund, 2020.207
collection
Indian Art
didYouKnow
Bidri ware is cast from condensed vapors of zinc mined from Sawar in Rajasthan.
citations
citation
<em>Festival of India in the United States, 1985-1986</em>. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1985.
page_number
p. 77
citation
Desai, Vishakha N., B. N. Goswamy, and Ainslie Thomas Embree. <em>Life at Court: Art for India's Rulers, 16th-19th Centuries</em>. Boston, Mass: Museum of Fine Arts, 1985.
page_number
pp. 144-145
citation
Zebrowski, Mark. <em>Gold, Silver & Bronze from Mughal India</em>. London: Alexandria Press in association with Laurence King, 1997.
page_number
Reproduced: pp. 233, 235, and color plate 502
creditline
Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 08:58:43.119000
sourceId
387679
dept
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
coll
Indian Art
med
Zinc alloy with silver and brass inlay
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
2af4047fae860829