With the Orientalism movement of the late 19th century, European artists introduced the world to the hookah. The Orientalist painters, fascinated with the mystery and romance associated with Egypt and the Middle East, began to travel to places like Cairo and Tangiers in search of subjects for their art. What resulted was not only some fabulous fine art but also the spread of knowledge of the hookah. Many of the images in Orientalist paintings include a hookah, such as Arab Girl with Water Pipe by Gerome. The piece depicts a young woman seated on a ledge in a Cairo alley. The doorway behind her is called a "bab" or gate, and Islamic Cairo (the part of Cairo where the famous bazaar, Khan el-Khalili, is located) has several of them. Soldiers closed and guarded these gates at night to offer protection from invading forces. Several centuries later, parts of the city are still identified by the names of the gates closest to them. Ali comes from one of these gated areas of Islamic Cairo, and it just so happens that this particular part of the city is best known for -- you guessed it -- HOOKAHS! Is it any wonder that Ali's family has been a part of the hookah industry for generations, then? Back to the painting. . .notice how the hookah is made of metal rather than glass. Glass, because of its fragility, was more expensive than metal and was therefore the hookah of choice for those who had enough money to replace them should they break.
In Cafe House in Cairo, the artist gives us a bird's eye view of the precursor to the contemporary hookah lounge! Coffee shops in Cairo don't look like this anymore, even the very old ones. Now they are filled with tables and chairs where people, mostly men, sit to discuss politics, tell jokes (Egyptians LOVE jokes and tell some great ones!), play backgammon or chess, drink tea or Turkish coffee, and smoke shisha (the name for hookah in Egypt). They are centers of social activity day and night, and it is not often that you will find a coffee shop without a few patrons. The oldest coffee shop in Islamic Cairo, which is located across the street from the Al-Hussein Mosque, belongs to a distant relative of Ali's mother. The place is always packed with locals and tourists wandering through the old part of the city. Again, the hookah is made of metal rather than glass, but that is about to change. . .
In Eugene Delacroix's Algiers, we finally get to see a hookah with a glass base! Notice that it is a household hookah used by women? Because it is not likely that the hookah would see the same kind of hard use from women as it would from men, the glass base is a safe investment. Furthermore, the delicacy of the glass serves as a metaphor for the male belief in the fragile nature of the female. Notice, too, how it is considerably smaller or shorter than the metal hookahs that the men use. Another interesting thing to note about the hookah is its shape. Rather than the traditional bell shaped glass commonly associated with the hookah, this one has a bulb shape (also called ola after a clay water vessel). In terms of symbolism, this bulb shape is representative of the female form, especially the pregnant female form. This hookah is definitely a woman's pipe!
I hope that you have enjoyed a brief introduction to the hookah in fine art! There are many more examples available for your viewing pleasure. To find them, do a web search using Orientalism and Fine Art as your search terms. The links below will take you to our eBay store where you will find some authentic Egyptian hookahs like the ones in the paintings. Enjoy!
- 22" 2-Hose Nefertiri Authentic Egyptian Hookah (Comes with a free Caravansarai exclusive golf style carrying bag!)
- 22" 2-Hose King Tut Authentic Egyptian Hookah (With the fabled King Tut Exhibit making its way around the world again, this hookah is the perfect way to remember the Boy King!)
- 34" 1-Hose Gold Camel Authentic Egyptian Hookah (A stunning rendering of the famed ship of the desert on a traditional hookah.)
