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Though there are examples of pipe bowls made of glass – including bowls adapted from glass doorknobs – the primary use of glass in an opium layout is in the chimneys of the lamps. The glass in chimneys is usually smooth or faceted, but there are also unusual specimens made from dark glass, or glass that has been painted with pictoral ...
- What is an Opium Pipe
There are two cultural forms of ‘true’ opium pipe, those...
- Antiques, Collecting, and History
The only tangible remnants from the dens of the past are the...
- What is an Opium Pipe
An opium pipe is a pipe designed for the evaporation and inhalation of opium. True opium pipes allow for the opiate to be vaporized while being heated over a special oil lamp known as an opium lamp.
There are two cultural forms of ‘true’ opium pipe, those instruments built expressly for the purpose of vaporizing just opium. The differences in overall design largely come down to what is used as a steady heat source – a vegetable oil lamp, or a piece of charcoal.
The opium pipe is used in a completely different way than the tobacco pipe. To begin with, the pipe is not clamped between the teeth, the stem is too long and the weight too high for that. The long stem with an average length between 55 and 65 centimetres is held by both hands.
The only tangible remnants from the dens of the past are the pipes, tools, and other relics associated with smoking opium. They offer concrete yet enigmatic reminders of a world-within-a-world gone by.
An opium lamp is an oil lamp designed specifically to facilitate the vaporization and inhalation of opium. Opium lamps differ from conventional lamps for lighting in that they are designed to channel an exact amount of heat upward through their funnel-shaped chimneys.
Nineteen broken opium pipe bowls were found at Yema-po. All these bowls are hollow, globular in shape, have a tiny hole in the upper surface and are made of fired clay. Most are simple geometric shapes and composed of burnished orange clay.
