A bidriware huqqa base, India, Deccan, late 17th century

of globular form with a short cylindrical ringed neck gently broadening at the mouth, the body moulded with vertical fluting, each flute inlaid with a floral scroll issuing three-petalled flowers and split-palmettes, the shoulder with a further floral scroll, the neck with an arcade of flowering plants bordered by narrow bands of chevron patterning and lotus petals

Round huqqa bases were supported on a ring (derived from the ancient lota form) accompanied by a chillam (fire-cup containing the charcoal and tobacco) and placed on a sini (tray). Note here the incorporation of lily blossoms or the lotus pond motif, an ancient symbol of fertility in reference to the purna kalasa (full vase).

A seventeenth-century bidri sini inlaid with brass, illustrated in Zebrowski 1997, no.422, displays a similar treatment in the stylisation of the flowers and spatial arrangement. A similar fluted huqqa base is also illustrated in Zebrowski 1997, no. 390.

An almost identical huqqa base is in the Victoria & Albert Museum from the Tayler Collection (Stronge 1985, p.46, no.9; and Skelton 1982, p.141, no.476). It has the same vertical flutes enclosing a floral scroll divided by narrow chevron bands. Stronge identifies the trefoil pattern at the base and top of each rib as an architectural decorative device associated with Deccani architecture. The shoulder has a similar floral scroll and the neck has the same inlaid ring mouldings, one with chevrons and the other with lotus petals, and an arcade of flowering plants to the upper section of the neck.  

Towards the end of the seventeenth century there began a tendency towards smaller huqqas, with less bulging shapes and narrower necks and floral motifs became more stylised with fewer realistic details (Zebrowski 1997, p.235).