Exhibited: Grand Palais, Paris 2017, p.199, no.150
The Doge’s Palace, Venice 2017, p.230, no.157
The Palace Museum, Beijing 2018, p.252, no.161.

Note: The hookah (waterpipe) is comprised of a few component parts, the mouthpiece, a long tube, the huqqa base, and a detachable tobacco bowl. It would have been customary for a detailed mouthpiece, such as the present lot, to have also been accompanied by an equally ornamental bowl and pipe (Beijing, 2015, p.252, no. 161). The munal (mouthpiece) was considered the most important part, as it was the intimate and personal part of the waterpipe. During the mid-18th century onwards, the waterpipe became a popular feature in courtly portraiture painting, showing its widespread popularity and its evocation of high status.