CP131A
Clay tobacco pipe bowl moulded in the shape of a negro's head. Dates from c.1870-1900. A similar pipe is illustrated by Ayto (1994, P. 17). Ayto (1979, P. 6) suggests that the depiction of negroes on clay pipes was popular because of the 'black boy' signs used by early tobacconists (interestingly this suggestion is missing from his 1994 edition...). Another possibility is that it is related to Negro Head - a cheap, dark tobacco designed for smoking and chewing which was popular in the nineteenth century. Personal find on the Thames foreshore at South Bank, London.
CP131A
Clay tobacco pipe bowl moulded in the shape of a negro's head. Dates from c.1870-1900. A similar pipe is illustrated by Ayto (1994, P. 17). Ayto (1979, P. 6) suggests that the depiction of negroes on clay pipes was popular because of the 'black boy' signs used by early tobacconists (interestingly this suggestion is missing from his 1994 edition...). Another possibility is that it is related to Negro Head - a cheap, dark tobacco designed for smoking and chewing which was popular in the nineteenth century. Personal find on the Thames foreshore at South Bank, London.