AN ENGRAVED BRASS HUQQA BASE
Lahore, Northern India, 18th century

Of globular shape, on a plain flattened base, rising to a ringed cylindrical neck, the body deeply engraved with scrolling vines framing large full-blown lotus flowers, rosette and flower bands on the shoulders and neck, the engraving filled with dark lac, 17.8cm high.

Provenance: from the late Pierre Jourdan Barry Collection (1926 - 2016).

Literature: Mark Zebrowski, Gold, Silver and Bronze from Mughal India, London, 1997, p. 242, cat. 412. As Zebrowksi stated, round brass huqqas continued to be used throughout the 18th century in remote areas such as the Punjab hills. He described our lot as one of the most robust examples of this type and he thus believed it to be one of the earliest, dating to the late 17th - early 18th century (p. 243).