Primitive Pipe

[tuold]

I saw this specimen during a recent hunting expedition in the tangled jungles of ebay. I considered bagging it with a quick three buck bet, then hesitated for a moment. "Is this someone's honest attempt at crafting a pipe from the surrounding environs with only simple tools at hand, or a true relic from the past?", I thought to myself. What the heck? I pulled the trigger and it's now on the way to me tied to the fender of a USPS truck. I don't intend to smoke it but will keep it in the collection box.
So what do you all suppose this thing is? There are no markings. It's all wood, probably not briar. Looks like it might make a good Civil War reenactment prop.

 

[buzkirk]

Looks like a deer antler stem from the pics, could be truly an old pipe !
Tom

 

[cortezattic]

Odd thing, isn't it? The metal band seems out of character with a whittled home made pipe; and a glimpse of bird's eye grain

makes me hesitate to say it was fashioned from the limb joint of a hardwood tree. It must have taken a lot of work to make

that tenon, though. Good example of folk art.
What kind of pipes were common during the American Civil War? My guess is clay, but briar surely must have been available.

 

[monty55]

Very interesting. Old pipes like that are cool to me... wondering who made it, who smoked it. Nice find!

 

[southerndraw]

When I carved my first pipe I used deer antler for the stem and it looked a lot like that except very rough. This guy looks like he had done it before. Very cool old pipe.

 

[homeguard95]

It's interesting if nothing else.

 

[tuold]

Finally got my hands on the rustic pipe. My intent was mostly to clean and preserve since I won't be smoking this thing. I agree with Cortez that the brass band looked like it didn't really belong, so I slipped it off. Luckily it wasn't covering any sort of crack repair though I could have sanded the shank a little more where it used to be.
I still can't decide what kind of wood this is. The carving marks are evident. It could have been an old castoff briar stummel the guy wanted to use for this pipe. Who knows?

 

[homeguard95]

It cleaned up really well, I think it looks nice and I can't hardly blame you for not wanting to smoke it.

 

[claypipesarchaeologist]

WOW! Great job. I see you removed the brass, or brass-like, ring. Was something wrong with it or did you just not like it? I only ask because it seems like a small amount of continuity would be nice between the stem and the shank. Just a personal preference, though. All that being said, it looks great. Neat find!

 

[tuold]

The brass ring really didn't seem to add any function or flair in my judgement. I just slips on and off so I can always change my mind. Seems like something that would have gotten lost pretty quickly out the field.

 

[virginiacob]

tuold,
It could possibly be a 19th c. smoking pipe. Briar pipes began to make headway here in the U.S. during the 1850s (probably facilitated by the German immigrant migration during the mid-19th century since the German pipe makers helped pioneer the early briar wood pipes). As for as the stem, horn and vulcanite stems would have been common on 19th c. briar pipes. Therefore it wouldn't have been a stretch for a pipe maker of the era to carve one from antler. Also, the brass band is probably original to the pipe. You may have recently seen the posting of the reproduction "Hamburg-style" pipe that I had posted lasted month. It features a similar band on the stem except that mine is made of German Silver instead of brass. Definitely a nice find!