Clay tobacco pipe
Click ^ for larger image.
Generally speaking, the smaller the bowl, the older the pipe, this is because when tobacco was a new product it was relatively expensive.
The internal diameter of the bowl's rim is 9mm. This example was probably made somewhere betwen 1625 and 1675 - probably in or around 1650 (identification by Bristol City Museum). In 1652 Bristol formed its own guild of pipe makers, with 25 founder members.
The earliest record of anyone smoking in England dates to 1556 and relates to a sailor in Bristol (Lloyd, J & J Mitchinson 2006, The Book of General Ignorance, Faber & Faber).
Material: ceramic
Period: Post Medieval
Find spot: Hampstead Road, Brislington, Bristol. ST 612710
Exhibit contributed by Joules Taylor
Text written by Ken Taylor, in 2010
Photographer: Ken Taylor
Acquisition number: 100802a2