Old Smoke Pipe found along the river yesterday

[Lowryevans]

Was metal detecting in the woods yesterday along the Ohio river in West Virginia and dug this old pipe almost a foot deep. I think it may be made of pewter. I think it is pretty old, but don't know exactly how old. My buddy who was detecting close to me at the time found a piece of melted lead as well. We didn't get a chance to hunt the area very long, but plan on going back in a few days.

 

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I commented on your post in a detecting group on Facebook. Banner vote in.

 

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[Silver Tree Chaser]

As far as I can tell, if this one is 17th C it will only just scrape in.
Assuming that the pewter ones follow the same evolution & shapes of the clay ones, it would date from 1690-1750 ish. It's not the right shape for ones that pre-date 1690.

There are only about 5 metal pipes recorded on the UK databases & they are dated broadly - 18th-19th C. However, they were not this type/shape.

One of the reasons given/guessed for the lack of metal ones compared to clay is as follows;

''[FONT=&]Metal pipes are not ideal for smoking, but are thought to have either been an alternative material, trialed before clay became dominant, or been used for sea voyages where frgaile clay pipes could have been easily damaged''[/FONT]

Cru - All due respect to you, but I think there is too much being assumed in regards to dating pipes based on shape, size, design, etc. Perhaps the OP's pipe dates the mid-18th or quite a bit earlier? When I posted the pewter pipe that's also referenced in this thread, there was a bit of prudent questioning on the dating for my pipe and more so some suggestion that it dated very late in the 17th century - but barely so; however, that date was contrary to the history of the site - 1640s to 1670s. I believe a lot of stock on pipe shapes and sizes is based on work by Hume and others, but even Hume noted that "there is, unfortunately, a great deal that we do not yet know about the so-called evolution of bowls and stems, and there is reason to suspect that present stylistic and dating criteria have been oversimplified.”

Hume's sentiment is backed up by findings of one paper on the evolution of clay tobacco pipes in England. Here a photo and a link to the site.



http://http://www.cafg.net/docs/articles/claypipes.pdf

This article, written long after Hume's work from 50+ years ago, shows a pipe at left with a spur dating to 1610, while the pipe at right from 1710 is flat heeled or pedestaled. There are other studies that show pipes with spurs dating well back into the 17th century. On the use of lead (apparently used for the OP's pipe) or pewter (for the pipe that I recovered), and drawbacks to using metal was secondary to the advantage of possessing a break-resistant, metal pipe; such a pipe was desired by Native Americans & trappers - people out in the elements and on the move.

 

[huntsman53]

Congrats on an awesome and truly rare find! There might have been a settlement or Native American camp nearby, so you might want to make a thorough search of the area around and near where you found the pipe. If it possibly washed downstream, then research for any of the same and try to search upstream. My Banner Vote is in.


Frank

 

[CRUSADER]

Cru - All due respect to you, but I think there is too much being assumed in regards to dating pipes based on shape, size, design, etc. Perhaps the OP's pipe dates the mid-18th or quite a bit earlier? When I posted the pewter pipe that's also referenced in this thread, there was a bit of prudent questioning on the dating for my pipe and more so some suggestion that it dated very late in the 17th century - but barely so; however, that date was contrary to the history of the site - 1640s to 1670s. I believe a lot of stock on pipe shapes and sizes is based on work by Hume and others, but even Hume noted that "there is, unfortunately, a great deal that we do not yet know about the so-called evolution of bowls and stems, and there is reason to suspect that present stylistic and dating criteria have been oversimplified.”

Hume's sentiment is backed up by findings of one paper on the evolution of clay tobacco pipes in England. Here a photo and a link to the site.

View attachment 1471684

http://http://www.cafg.net/docs/articles/claypipes.pdf

This article, written long after Hume's work from 50+ years ago, shows a pipe at left with a spur dating to 1610, while the pipe at right from 1710 is flat heeled or pedestaled. There are other studies that show pipes with spurs dating well back into the 17th century. On the use of lead (apparently used for the OP's pipe) or pewter (for the pipe that I recovered), and drawbacks to using metal was secondary to the advantage of possessing a break-resistant, metal pipe; such a pipe was desired by Native Americans & trappers - people out in the elements and on the move.

Familiar with the Hume reference.
I don't have a problem believing it could be 17th C. Pipes are not my thing, someone more qualified should be able to verify it. My gut still thinks 18th C, but I've been wrong many times before.

 

[GB1]

sweet find it does look old no idea what it is though

 

[Silver Tree Chaser]

Congrats on a great find! Here's a link to a helpful article that I read when researching a 17th century pewter pipe that I found back in the spring. It's titled "Neat and Artificial: Base Metal Trade Pipes of the Northeastern Indians." I'm not certain of whether your pipe is 17th or 18th Century. I did notice that your pipe has a missing stem, but no evidence of a break. It appears that your pipe used a replaceable reed-stem. The linked article mentions base-metal pipes being recovered from Canada all the way down to the Carolinas, but I believe all the specimens in the study had a permanent stem. Most surprisingly, your pipe find follows the recovery of a similar pipe by a friend of mine in Massachusetts (he's a T-Net lurker, but not a poster). His pipe also appears to have used a reed-stem, but it's made of copper and all one piece! Regardless of your pipe's age - 17th or 18th century - it's a great find. I hope you get back to the site and make some associated finds. Good luck.

"Neat and Artificial Pipes": Base Metal Trade Pipes of the Northeastern Indians | Richard Veit - Academia.edu

 

[Donnie B from VA]

Very nice find. I hope you hammer that spot!