- Title
- Spittoon (ugaldan)
- Date Made
- circa 1850
- Medium
- Bidri ware (tarkashi and tehnishan techniques)
- Dimensions
- 7 3/4 x 5 7/8 in. (19.69 x 14.92 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.81.278.3
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
Pan is a ceremonial amenity and digestif made of cut betel nut, mineral lime powder or paste, sundry spices, and sometimes tobacco and even gold or silver foil all wrapped in a betel leaf (Piper betle). A wide range of paraphernalia was used in preparing, serving, and consuming pan. These accessories were often made in sets with matching decoration. A critical component was the spittoon, which was used to discard the excess saliva stimulated by chewing the betel and the nut and leaf remnants. Spittoons underwent an evolution in design form. Early examples in the 17th century were generally small receptacles shaped like a hand-washing basin (see M.2000.47), while a common later shape seems to have been created essentially by joining the neck of a flat-bottomed hookah base to the neck of an inverted hookah base with a flared rim and lacking a base plate. The constricted waist formed by the junction facilitated grasping or carrying the spittoon.
This spittoon is made of conjoined hookah bases. It is adorned with inlaid silver sheet and silver wire. The decoration of each unit consists of a series of repeated oval cartouches framing exuberant flowering plants with prominent biconvex stamens and lush foliage. The plants are likely intended as stylized representations of the conventional poppy plant, but their distinctive large round petals have been omitted here. Each of the botanical arrangements differs slightly in its details and spacing. See M.81.278.2.
- Selected Bibliography
- Sanfrani, Shehbaz H., ed. Golconda and Hyderabad. Bombay: Marg Publications, 1992.