Kalian thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Ceramics, Room 137, The Curtain Foundation Gallery

Kalian

1650-1700 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This ceramic vessel is a ‘kalian’ or base for a water-pipe used in the newly introduced practice of smoking tobacco. It held the water through which the smoke was drawn to cool it through a long flexible tube connected to a container through two holes. They are also known as a hookah, huqqa, qalian, qalyan, qaliyan, narghile, shisha, and a hubble-bubble.



Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Fritware with underglaze cobalt blue and chromium black decoration against white groudn
Brief description
Kalian (water-pipe base), fritware, depicting peacocks in a landscape, underglaze-painted in cobalt blue and chromium black; Iran, 1650-1700
Physical description
Kalian, or hookah base, decorated with black and grey peacocks and blue landscape details
Dimensions
  • Height: 28.2cm
  • Diameter: 18.5cm
Style
Summary
This ceramic vessel is a ‘kalian’ or base for a water-pipe used in the newly introduced practice of smoking tobacco. It held the water through which the smoke was drawn to cool it through a long flexible tube connected to a container through two holes. They are also known as a hookah, huqqa, qalian, qalyan, qaliyan, narghile, shisha, and a hubble-bubble.

Collection
Accession number
423-1878

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
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