A FINE BIDRI SILVER-INLAID LONG-NECKED FLASK (SURAHI)
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE GERMAN COLLECTION
Bidar, Deccan, Central India, first half 18th century

Of bulbous shape, resting on a short splayed foot, rising to a tall tapering neck ending in an everted conical rim and circular mouth, with two bulging rings at the neck's base and below the rim, the exterior fully decorated with bidri silver inlay arranged as a dense grid of eight-pointed stars, some chevron bands around the neck's rings and square lattice registers to the shoulders and foot, 33cm high.

The shape of this vessel, called surahi, is a very common one in the Islamic culture, especially in Iran and India. As Zebrowski explains, these flasks enjoyed the status of a proper motif in the visual arts and a real topos in both sacred and profane literature, appearing in paintings, illustrations and architectural reliefs of the time (M. Zebrowski, Gold, Silver and Bronze from Mughal India, 1997, p.185). For a similar bidri surahi dated to the 18th century, please see Ibidem, p. 191, fig. 285. A huqqa base showcasing the same silver star pattern, dated to the early 18th century, is also presented in the same publication, p. 235, fig. 394.