archaeologyfieldwork.com - Kaolin or ball clay pipes

Topic ID #5684 - posted 8/10/2009 12:21 PM

Kaolin or ball clay pipes

Dwarmour

I was curious if any of you have heard this tidbit about ball clay pipes:

I was at a gun and knife show saturday and came across a booth that had 3 or four of these pipes. I had just worked on a colonial site earlier this year where we were seeing a ton of these. The woman running the booth was telling me that they used to smoke them with their friends but would break off the end they had been smoking out of before they passed it on.

I would have thought these pipes would have been more of a luxury and would have been pampered seeing as how they are fragile. Any of you heard of this before?

Post ID#14956 - replied 8/10/2009 12:31 PM

Jeandron

There was a massive market for these in the past and the reason why you tend to find so many stem fragments. Once the stem gums up, one would just break off a few cm's and carry on smoking.

Post ID#14957 - replied 8/10/2009 12:48 PM

Dwarmour

that sounds good. I was thinking most of the build up would be towards the bottom of the stem or in the middle. Have you ever seen any pipe cleaners from that time?

Post ID#14982 - replied 8/11/2009 8:04 AM

Jeandron

No, I've not seen any pipe cleaners from that era. The pipes were designed to be disposable so I should think there'd be little need.

Post ID#14983 - replied 8/11/2009 8:38 AM

Dwarmour

thanks jeandron,

I don't know why I am getting into the habit of posting a guestion before trying to find it on the internet.

Post ID#14997 - replied 8/12/2009 4:46 PM

Dmack89

you will find a lot about these under Kaolin pipe and kaoling bowls as well. Here in the east they are like nails on many sitess - all over the place - going back to very early times. There is a method to date some of the earliest (dutch I believe) by the stem hole diameter.

DM

Post ID#15000 - replied 8/12/2009 6:46 PM

Dwarmour

yeah i knew you could date by the stem diameter and the foot of the bowl. I haven't worked on many historic sites but the one i did had a ton of these pipes with the maker's mark stamped on them. I was wondering recently if these pipes are more commonly associated with a particular socio-economic class. It seems they more wealthy would have sturdier or more intricate pipes of different material.

Does this seem plausible or was this the all-purpose pipe material for everyone?

Post ID#15012 - replied 8/13/2009 12:38 PM

Dmack89

my understanding is that the pipes were available to everyone - many have minimal if any design and seem to have been common anywhere that folks smoked

Post ID#15218 - replied 9/1/2009 8:12 AM

oneshot

My understanding was the end of the pipe was broken off after use as a form of sanitantion, the pipes were used by one person, the end snapped off, and now it was ready for the next person 's use...

Post ID#15220 - replied 9/1/2009 8:34 AM

trast

I'm not a historical archaeologist, but from what I understand in Newfoundland, kaolin pipes were supplied to customers at tippling houses (pubs in someone's house). You could count on many different people smoking from one pipe and the ends were broken off between people. The pipes weren't often individual property. When a monogrammed "DK" pipe showed up at David Kirke's colony in Ferryland a few years back it was a big deal.

http://www.heritage.nf.ca/avalon/artifacts/pipemarks_intro.html

Post ID#15228 - replied 9/1/2009 2:22 PM

FireArch

Moderator

Didnt Deetz cover this at some point?

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