Page 1 of 1
Chinese opium pipe.
Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2017 4:33 am
by juantotree
Hi,
I wonder if anyone can help me decipher these character marks on this Chinese opium pipe. The 2nd image shows the marks on the base, which I presume refers to the maker. The 3rd image shows marks engraved beneath the flip up lid, any help greatly appreciated.
Martin
Re: Chinese opium pipe.
Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2017 4:53 am
by dognose
Hi Martin,
I hope my fears are misplaced, but I could not help but see a similarity in the construction of this item, and the subject of this topic:
viewtopic.php?f=38&t=24259&p=85673&hilit=SHIBAFU#p85673Is this piece definitely silver?
Trev.
Re: Chinese opium pipe.
Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2017 6:51 am
by juantotree
Hi Trev,
No it is definitely not silver or plated. Quite heavy white metal, which unlike the item in the link you provided, it does not seem to tarnish. However I would be interested to know what the character marks mean, hopefully someone will be able to interpret them.
Martin
Re: Chinese opium pipe.
Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2017 3:38 am
by Ag999
That's actually a tobacco pipe, not for opium. But in old photos you can see that they were often smoked alongside each other. Maybe that's why they are sometimes mistaken for opium pipes.
Re: Chinese opium pipe.
Posted: Sat Apr 08, 2017 5:34 pm
by denmarkhill
Picture 2:
正銀白 ZhengYinBai
Although the word "Yin" indeed means "silver", I found an article in Mandarin showing the same mark and it indicates that the material is "white copper".
Picture 3:
廣東 GuangDong (location)
協益號 XieYiHao (maker)