THREE PORCELAIN WATER PIPE (QALYAN) BOTTLES WITH MATCHING STEM CUPS
Possibly France made for the Persian export market, one dated 1299 AH (1881-2), the other two late 19th - early 20th century

Comprising three typical bell-shaped water pipe bases, resting on a circular foot and rising to a tapering ringed neck, with a reinforced rim, two white porcelain bodies painted in light pink, gold and polychromes, the other in fuchsia, the decoration in line with typical European export porcelains in Iran during the Qajar period featuring floral motifs; gilt Western-inspired floral festoons, sprays and ribbons; and both official and military portraits of Naser al-Din Shah, the Qajar King of Persia (r. 1848 - 1896), usually interspersed with Western-inspired vegetal motifs, birds and fretwork bands; and three matching stem cups, one inscribed in black nasta'liq script with the name Haji Sayyid Ibrahim Tajir Kashani and the date 1299 AH (1881-2), another with the depiction in blue of the Tour Eiffel; and the last one with more portraits of the Qajar Shah, the tallest bottle 26.4cm and stem cup 15.5cm high.

These water pipes are likely to be European export market productions, usually from France and Germany, targeted at and commissioned by an Iranian audience. The European origin is betrayed not only by the choice of the material (i.e. porcelain was not produced in Iran), but also by the style of the decoration. Similar water pipes would have been considered a lavish exotica piece in the 19th and 20th-century Qajar Iranian homes. It is here important to remember that both the use and design of these vessels were alien to European potters, who possibly drew their inspiration for the shape from 19th-century French pottery lampstands.