{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O450676"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O450676/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2021MW1123/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2021MW1123/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2021MW1123","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O450676/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O450676","accessionNumber":"707-1874","objectType":"Huqqa mouthpiece","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"The huqqa, a water pipe, was smoked extensively at the Mughal court. Tobacco was introduced to India by the Portuguese in the early sixteenth century and first brought to the Mughal Empire of northern India in 1604, by the emissary Asad Beg. This bloodstone mouthpiece would have been used to inhale smoke drawn from a water bowl, or huqqa base, via a long flexible tube.","physicalDescription":"A huqqa mouthpiece, fashioned in two parts in bloodstone, with a waisted constriction just over half way along its length. On the longer side of the waist, the body is wide and of the same diameter, with a wide bore and an exterior that has been cut longitudinally with sixteen elongated flat facets. On the other side of the waist, the body narrows and has a narrow hole drilled down its length, through to the other half, and there is a hairline fracture to the piece. The junction between the two parts is situated just to the side of the waist, on the narrower end.","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"nephrite","id":"AAT11120"}],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"Bloodstone, fashioned using abrasives and abrasive-charged tools, most probably using a bow-driven lathe.","categories":[{"text":"Gemstones","id":"THES270329"},{"text":"Hardstone","id":"THES270137"},{"text":"Smoking accessories","id":"THES49036"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SSEA","id":"THES48598"},"images":["2021MW1123"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"025","id":"THES374466"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Huqqa mouthpiece","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"India","id":"x29790"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Length","value":"129","unit":"mm","qualifier":"+/- 1","date":{"text":"03/03/2016","earliest":"2016-03-03","latest":"2016-03-03"},"part":"","note":"Overall length"},{"dimension":"Length","value":"73.8","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"03/03/2016","earliest":"2016-03-03","latest":"2016-03-03"},"part":"","note":"Distance between the wider end and the join"},{"dimension":"Diameter","value":"23.7 to 24.2","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"03/03/2016","earliest":"2016-03-03","latest":"2016-03-03"},"part":"","note":"External diameter range of the faceted, wider end"},{"dimension":"Diameter","value":"16.3","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"03/03/2016","earliest":"2016-03-03","latest":"2016-03-03"},"part":"","note":"Internal diameter of the faceted, wider end"},{"dimension":"Diameter","value":"9.0","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"03/03/2016","earliest":"2016-03-03","latest":"2016-03-03"},"part":"","note":"External diameter of the narrower end"}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"This huqqa mouthpiece was acquired by William Tayler during his time in India (1829-1867). He subsequently sold it to the South Kensington Museum (later renamed the Victoria & Albert Museum) in 1874 for the sum of £2-0-0.\r\n\r\nWilliam Tayler was educated in England at Charterhouse and also spent a term at Christ Church, Oxford. He entered service with the East India Company on 30th April 1829, arriving in India in October of the same year. He held various posts in Bengal and was appointed Commissioner of Patna in 1855. During his service, he was able to acquire many objects, including hardstones, relating to the customs and religions of India as well as objects from other parts of South Asia.\r\nHe was criticised for his handling of the uprisings in Northern India and was moved to a lesser post before being suspended, ultimately resigning on 29th March 1859. He then practised as an advocate in the law courts of Bengal before returning to England in 1867.\r\nHe wrote a book about his experiences, entitled Thirty-eight Years in India, in which he states that \"After my return to England, circumstances induced me, though with great reluctance, to part with the collection which is now in the South Kensington Museum\".","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Huqqa mouthpiece, waisted, two-piece construction, elongated longitudinal facets on wider end, bloodstone, India","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["707-1874"],"accessionNumberNum":"707","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1874,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-23","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-25","availableToBook":true}}