SOLD Very Intense,Very Smoked Antique Meerschaum Pipe Bowl with Black Glass Eyes and Evocative Repairs vintage portrait painting the blocks stack on dowels

the blocks stack on dowels

There is some darkening to the boards around the edges and smudge marks here and there

I'd guess third quarter 19th century or so

and perhaps especially those that no longer keep it

It dates to the 1860s or 70--previously manufactured by John S Hodgkinson of Philadelphia

SOLD Very Intense,Very Smoked Antique Meerschaum Pipe Bowl with Black Glass Eyes and Evocative Repairs vintage portrait painting the blocks stack on dowelsI am pretty certain this pipe bowl is 19th century meerschaum (meerschaum is a soft mineral called sepiolite, found in Europe, often carved into smoking pipes and other decorative objects) but the patina on it (if unsmoked it would appear white) is so dark (deeper than I have ever seen before), it is a bit hard to tell. And it is that near blackening from use, and the softening of the features from handling, and the wired repairs to the sides, that