A large silver-inlaid alloy bidri flask (surahi)
Deccan, 18th Centuryof 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. high注脚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.