A QAJAR COCO DE MER AND ENAMELLED SILVER WATER PIPE (QALYAN)
PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT EUROPEAN PRIVATE COLLECTION
Iran, 19th century

Of typical ovoid form, the central section of the body a coco de mer shell caged within a row of thin silver claws, the silver top and bottom decorated with two registers of oval medallions once possibly filled with polychrome-painted enamel portraits of Qajar youths, now missing, interspersed amidst vegetal tendrils, pairs of birds and flower bouquets against a cobalt blue enamel ground, the base and rim engraved with further floral garlands against a blue ground, approximately 24cm high.