A large silver-inlaid alloy Bidri flask (surahi) of bulbous form on a splayed foot with long flaring neck and domed lid with bud finial, profusely inlaid with silver with an interlace of vines and foliate friezes. 45.5 cm.
CATALOGUE NOTE A portable bidri huqqa base with an almost identical design is in the Layla S. and Mahmood Diba Collection, New York (Mark Zebrowski, Gold, Silver & Bronze from Mughal India, 1997, pp.239-241, no.408). A very similar but smaller bidri surahi was sold at Sotheby’s, Arts of the Islamic World, 7 October 2015, lot 363.