Historical dottle

[Nonesuch]

I follow london.mudlark on Instagram, and she posted this clay pipe find.

The pipe was full of mud, and here's her comment on cleaning it out:

Sometimes the best way to clean out a clay pipe is to let the mud inside dry. You can then gently tap out the dried cone once it’s shrunk away from the sides of the bowl. If you’re lucky they sometimes bring with them flakes of ancient semi-smoked and unsmoked tobacco, like this one.

Look carefully at the top of the cone. The tobacco is the darker pieces (on top and the lump beside the cone) that would have been at the bottom of the bowl before it filled with mud almost 400 years ago. If you collect enough tobacco like this you can actually burn it and fill the room with the scent of a Jacobean tavern.

 

[mr_future]

I follow london.mudlark on Instagram, and she posted this clay pipe find.

The pipe was full of mud, and here's her comment on cleaning it out:

This is AWESOME.

 

[cynyr]

Nicola White has made a name for herself finding pipes on the Thames. If you're interested in seeing them, here's her YouTube.

 

[mr_future]

That dottle could fetch a high price on tinbids.