Bidspirit auction | Collection of Antique Clay Pipe

Collection of Antique Clay Pipe Heads (”Chibuk”) with Varied Decorations – Ottoman Period, 18th/19th Century - An assortment of 6 antique and authentic clay pipe heads from the Ottoman period. These pipes, known by the traditional names ”chibuk” or ”lula”, were an inseparable part of smoking and leisure culture in the Middle East throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, and are regularly found in archaeological excavations across the region. The collection presents a rich variety of types, design styles, and regional workshops: • Large and magnificent red clay pipe head: characterized by a wide, stepped base, rounded line decorations, and bowl rims shaped as relief petal forms. • Pipe heads decorated with stamp impressions: items displaying dense geometric patterns, shaped grooves around the bowl, and delicate vegetal motifs impressed into the clay before firing. • Varied clay tones: the lot combines items made of classic red-brown clay alongside items of hard, fired dark-gray clay, some retaining original interior soot traces from period tobacco smoking. Width: 6–10 cm. 276 g. The items in this collection are original antique finds between 150 and 250 years old, and are in damaged/authentic archaeological condition. Most of the pipes are fractured or partially missing: significant fractures exist at the bowl rims, losses in the tenon tubes (the stem to which the long wooden shanks were attached), and structural cracks. The surfaces bear extensive wear, abrasions, soil residue, and a natural earth patina (no chemical cleaning has been performed in order to preserve authenticity).