Untitled

Its placement within the Met's collection highlights ongoing efforts to document and contextualize works by unidentified artists in global museum narratives.

The work, attributed to an anonymous painter, is classified as a portrait depicting a hookah and dated to 1883. Executed in ink and translucent watercolor on paper, it measures 13.3 cm in height by 15.2 cm in width and was created in India's Rajasthan region. The painting is part of the collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Its placement within the Met's collection highlights ongoing efforts to document and contextualize works by unidentified artists in global museum narratives.

The work is catalogued at the Metropolitan Museum of Art as a painting by an anonymous artist created in 1883 in Rajasthan, India. Its depiction of a hookah links it to cultural representations of smoking practices in 19th-century Indian art, while its dimensions of 13.3 cm by 15.2 cm and medium of ink with translucent watercolor on paper are documented in the museum's collection records.

The work is an ink drawing enhanced with translucent watercolor on paper, depicting a solitary figure seated on the floor. The man wears a bright red turban and holds a long hookah pipe, while a modest setting of cushions and a low table surrounds him. The composition is rendered with loose, sketch‑like lines that convey a moment of quiet contemplation rather than a narrative scene.

The image captures a private, domestic moment in a Rajasthani interior, focusing on the ritual of smoking a hookah. The solitary figure, isolated within an otherwise empty space, suggests introspection or a pause in daily life. The red turban draws attention to the individual, while the minimal surroundings emphasize the act of contemplation associated with the pipe.