TWO POLYCHROME-PAINTED CERAMIC WATERPIPE (QALYAN) BASES AND THEIR STEMS MADE FOR THE IRANIAN MARKET
PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT EUROPEAN PRIVATE COLLECTION
Russia and Europe, possibly France, late 19th - early 20th century

Comprising two sets of bell-shaped ceramic waterpipe bases and respective stems, one base decorated with pink floral motifs surrounding oval portraits of Nasir al-Din Shah Qajar, and silhouettes of the Qajar dynasty emblem (the Lion and the Sun), a Russian maker's mark to the underside, the stem with the same floral motifs and an oval portrait of Nasir al-Din Shah and Muzzafar al-Din Shah, alternating with stylised European-inspired buildings, the base 28cm high, the stem 16cm high; and the other base painted with green fretwork bands around the joints, and rosette garlands with stippling in pink around the body, the stem with the patenting French mark 'Déposé M.V', the base 21.5cm high, the stem 15cm high.