A SAFAVID RED AND BLUE KIRMAN POTTERY QALYAN BASE (WATER PIPE)
Safavid Iran, 17th century

Of compressed globular kendi shape, resting on a short circular foot, rising to flattened shoulders and a later-added engraved brass neck, to the side a rounded bulging spout, painted in cobalt blue and red against a white ground, the decoration comprising red cusped arabesque cartouches amidst Chinese-inspired cobalt blue scrolling vegetal trellis with foliage, a red rosette trellis band just below the neck's base and a geometric frieze around the foot, the brass neck engraved with oval medallions with standing youths and demons typical of the Zand and Qajar periods, the base later pierced for electrical wiring, 20.8cm high.