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Kaolin pipe, stem fragment

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@ Cornell University

United State, Antebellum, Slavery

Description

Stem fragment of a kaolin (white clay) tobacco pipe. These pipes were made with stems from a few inches to a foot or more in length, and tradition has it that the end would be broken off when shared so that the smoker has a fresh bit (or perhaps more likely, the prevalence of broken pipestems simply reflects their fragility). In the context here, these pipestem fragments may have been curated for use as beads. Archaeologists use the bore diameter of collections of pipestems to calculate the age of the collection, but the small collection size and likelihood of curation in a slavery context makes that less useful here.
Format:
26mm Long, 7mm Diameter Ceramic Kaolin Pipe Clay Equipment For Personal Use: Smoking And Tobacco Use Beads (Pierced Objects)
Created Date:
Circa 1800 1850
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From Collection

SSDPLACornell

Record Contributed By

Cornell University

Record Harvested From

ARTstor