19th Century Chinese Sterling Silver Opium Pipe with Filigree Peacock

Chinese opium pipe. Early 20th century.

This long bamboo pipe dates to the late 19th century and was originally used for smoking opium. Unlike a tobacco pipe, the opium pipe was designed especially to allow resinous opium ...

A 19th century Dutch silver pipe stopper with ship. A ship on a plateau on the stem. The stem is openwork and twisted. The pipe cleaner was originally a simple instrument only intended to empty the pipe bowl. 19th Century and Dutch hallmarked with the "Sword" used from 1814-1906. The silversmith mark is faded The size of the pipe cleaner is 10,5 cm high, 2 cm wide and the depth is 0,7 cm ( 4.1 Inch x 0.8 Inch x 0.3 Inch) The weight is 14 grams The silver version of the pipe cleaner, consisting of a pen topped by a figure, has no relation to the luxurious multi-piece garnish or the clipping tube. It originated from the simple brass or copper predecessor or the more popular variant of wood, bone or in a rare case also ivory. It is a consumable with only one purpose: to remove the tobacco plug at the bottom of the pipe bowl and to clean the kettle. The point is the working part of the object, the decorative element functions as a handle. In addition to the pipe stopper intended for pressing the smoldering tobacco, the rooting tool is an indispensable tool for the smoker to empty the pipe bowl after smoking. Strangely enough, there is little relationship between the pipe stopper on the one hand and the pipe rooter on the other. It is especially remarkable that the silver rooters...

Fantastic bronze pipe from the Vienna tobacco museum’s collection, from Belgian Congo.