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Large Bell-shaped Silver-Inlaid Bidri Hookah Base
Bidar, Deccan, India
19th century
height: 20.2cm, diameter of base: 24.1cm, weight: 3.424kg
This relatively large hookah base of bell form is decorated with the
poppy motif often encountered in bidriware from Bidar. The poppies
sprout from stylised vases that rest on trays within oval cartouches
within typical floral border designs. (Stronge [1985 p. 63] shows a
bidriware ewer that features the typical Bidar poppy motif but with the
poppies emitting from a vase on a tray.)
The base widens to become unusually particularly broad and flat.
Bidriware originated in the city of Bidar in the Deccan. It is cast from an
alloy of mostly zinc with copper, tin and lead. The vessels are overlaid
or inlaid with silver, brass and sometimes gold. A paste that contains
sal ammoniac is then applied which turns the ally dark black but leaving
the silver, brass and gold unaffected.
Bidriware caused great interest at the Great Exhibition in London in
1851. It found new European markets and helped to keep alive the
craft as demand fell in India with the decline of many of the smaller
courts and landed families.
References: Stronge, S., Bidri Ware: Inlaid Metalwork from India,
Victoria & Albert Museum, 1985; Lal, K., Bidri Ware: National Museum
Collection, National Museum New Delhi, 1990.
Inventory no.: 754
This Item is available - Ask about this item
Large Bell-shaped Silver-Inlaid Bidri Hookah Base
Bidar, Deccan, India
19th century
height: 20.2cm, diameter of base: 24.1cm, weight: 3.424kg
This relatively large hookah base of bell form is decorated with the
poppy motif often encountered in bidriware from Bidar. The poppies
sprout from stylised vases that rest on trays within oval cartouches
within typical floral border designs. (Stronge [1985 p. 63] shows a
bidriware ewer that features the typical Bidar poppy motif but with the
poppies emitting from a vase on a tray.)
The base widens to become unusually particularly broad and flat.
Bidriware originated in the city of Bidar in the Deccan. It is cast from an
alloy of mostly zinc with copper, tin and lead. The vessels are overlaid
or inlaid with silver, brass and sometimes gold. A paste that contains
sal ammoniac is then applied which turns the ally dark black but leaving
the silver, brass and gold unaffected.
Bidriware caused great interest at the Great Exhibition in London in
1851. It found new European markets and helped to keep alive the
craft as demand fell in India with the decline of many of the smaller
courts and landed families.
References: Stronge, S., Bidri Ware: Inlaid Metalwork from India,
Victoria & Albert Museum, 1985; Lal, K., Bidri Ware: National Museum
Collection, National Museum New Delhi, 1990.
Inventory no.: 754
This Item is available - Ask about this item
