id: 387679 accession number: 2020.207 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2020.207 updated: 2022-02-07 23:28:02.565000 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 title: Bidri Hookah Bowl with Roses title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1650s creation date earliest: 1640 creation date latest: 1660 current location: creditline: Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund copyright: --- culture: Southwestern India, Deccan, Karnataka, Bidar​ technique: Zinc alloy with silver and brass inlay department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art collection: Indian Art type: Metalwork find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Diameter: 16.5 cm (6 1/2 in.); height: 18.5 cm (7 5/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Life and Exploits of Krishna in Indian Paintings (Indian art rotation) opening date: 2021-09-01T04:00:00 Life and Exploits of Krishna in Indian Paintings (Indian art rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 1, 2021-February 6, 2022). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * Life at court: art for India's rulers, 16th-19th centuries. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA (November 20, 1985-February 9, 1986). --- PROVENANCE Dr. Mark Zebrowski [1945-1999], London, UK, by descent to his partner John Robert Alderman date: 1968-1999 footnotes: citations: (John Robert Alderman, London, UK, consigned to Francesca Galloway, Ltd. for sale) date: 1999-2020 footnotes: citations: (Francesca Galloway, Ltd., London, UK, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) date: 2020 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 2020- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: Bidri ware is cast from condensed vapors of zinc mined from Sawar in Rajasthan. digital 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 Gulistan (Rose Garden) of Sa'di (Persian, 1210–1291 or 1292). wall description: Hookah bowls hold water, often infused with flowers or spices, to cool tobacco or other smoke, thereby elevating the enjoyment. A metal or cloth pipe was once inserted over the mouth of the bowl. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Festival of India in the United States, 1985-1986. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1985. page number: p. 77 url: Desai, Vishakha N., B. N. Goswamy, and Ainslie Thomas Embree. Life at Court: Art for India's Rulers, 16th-19th Centuries. Boston, Mass: Museum of Fine Arts, 1985. page number: pp. 144-145 url: Zebrowski, Mark. Gold, Silver & Bronze from Mughal India. London: Alexandria Press in association with Laurence King, 1997. page number: Reproduced: pp. 233, 235, and color plate 502 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2020.207/2020.207_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2020.207/2020.207_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2020.207/2020.207_full.tif