What are these?

Hi Everyone,
Discovered these two items in my local secondhand store yesterday for AUD$20, which I thought was value. They look vaguely like smoking implements, but unlike anything I have seen.

The long pipe is about 250mm (10 inches) and 1 cm thick. The other about 150mm (6 inches) and the bowl is about 30mm.

The long pipe has a hole right through the stem, but not straight. It appears to be made of cherry wood. The top is bone and the hook is also bone with a top edge and screw-fitting. Neither fit together well. The other end has a cork wrap but looks new and badly fitted. The bone hook does not appear designed to hold opium.

The other item is made of tin and is designed to carry something inside. A liquid? The spout appears blocked and the item has been pushed into the longer piece of bamboo I think to make it easier to hold. The items may not be related, although they were in the same box of bits and pieces.

I think opium pipe/paraphernalia but have never seen anything like this as there is no bowl on the pipe. I would have considered a Japanese kiseru but even that isn't quite right as again there is no bowl for tobacco.

There is a slight smell from the pipe, but I cannot see any scorching or staining down the pipe stem.

Ideas? Suggestions? Thoughts? I leave it to the wisdom and experience of members. Thanks.

 

Top photo Black Forest pipe stem with bowl missing.

 

The bamboo piece is a tjanting tool/pen for making batik.

 

Wow! You are spot on. That's exactly what it is. Thank you. Members here are amazing!
I think the little pot is blocked probably because the batik wax has dried out.

 

Great observation HB. I wonder if the stem could have been reversed? The end with the bone is actually for the lips to inhale and the other end (now covered in cork) might have held the original bowl? Would that make sense?

 

Hi Dave,
More likely some guy in a garage making a bong! And maybe that's what it was adapted for? The cork end fitting snugly into a bong? There is some worm damage in the cork tip, but the wooden stem shows no damage. The little marks are naturally in the bark.

You caused me to look closer, and I found this writing on the cork. It appears to read FOWEI?G?N. Any ideas?

I'll use the old Customs trick and pop the wooden pipe into the freezer for a few days to kill any bugs.

Thanks for your suggestions.

 

The screw in curved mouth piece is most likely cow horn,the bowls were usually 2 pieces made of wood or porcelain... see examples https://www.google.com/search?clien...Us4YMKHRTyBagQ4lYILigI&biw=1553&bih=890&dpr=1

Natural cork has holes but they are not from worms.

 

Thanks HB. I think you've nailed it exactly. A Black Forest pipe. One in the image even looks like the same stem and timber. I think the bowl has been cut off or removed (what a shame) and the rest adapted for another use.
Great work!

 

The bowl and connector were removable,the cork was probably added when new bowl pieces were added as replacements.

 

the first one has nothing to do with the Black Forest. originally named a Gesteckpfeife - "stecken" means "to stick (together)" - and in use all over Germany. especially used by hunters, mountaineers and soldiers because it took little place when disassembled. the stem was hazelnut because easily available everywhere and easily hollowed out by hitting the stick against a hard surface to loosen the core.
a special variation is the Reservistenpfeife where there is an additional hose so that its bowl could be placed on the ground for easier relaxing and beer-drinking.

 

Some hot water will solve that.
I used to batik using a tjanting, and a brush for bigger areas. Waaay back when....

 

Thanks Fid. I guess I used too generic a name to describe the pipe stem. There were a lot of images under that name. I looked at hazelnut wood and it certainly seems that’s what the stem is made of. Thanks for the clarification.

 

Hi Dave,
That’s what I was thinking, but it seems a bit odd to have that on a cork tip.

 

Thanks AJ,
I’ll try that, not that I plan on doing any batik work. I just sold all my pieces that I collected in Bali in the early 70’s.