Antique Chinese Silver Paktong Smoking Pipe. Beautifully etched calligraphy, bird and floral design. Has Chinese writing. There is a tweazer and its holder missing and the small mouthpiece, otherwise complete. Compartment opens and shuts as it should. No dings. Some patina/tarnish.
Size: 19cm high, chamber 4.5cm high 5cm wide
Antique Chinese Silver, or also called Paktong, this is a nice substantial piece. Chinese silver is an amalgamation of metals and is much sought after by collectors.
Once side has a bird and flower scene and the other side a typical Chinese mountain scene. +- circa 19th century
An alloy of zinc, copper and nickel, closely resembling silver, of Chinese origin.Nickel's earliest use was possibly as an unknown element in an ancient Chinese white metal alloy (paktong) used in tableware, candlesticks and other ornamental and household articles.
Possible Age:1850-1899 (not confirmed)
The Chinese smoker has traditionally the choice out of two. The first is the long stemmed dry smoking pipe, used for tobacco. This type looks like an old Western-European pipe, the alternative is the water pipe that has seen a distinctive development in China.
At home people smoke a pipe with a rather large water reservoir with the pipe bowl on top, made out of bamboo or copied in metal. A long, slightly curved bamboo stem makes that you can smoke in any position. Many of these pipes are beautifully decorated with inlay in silver or mother of pearl of flowers, landscapes or a bird.
Practical smoking sets are made for traveling: water pipe, tobacco box and the various instruments share a kind of box that can be attached to the belt with a hook. Most of these pipes are made out of pakton, an alloy of white metal or, as it is called, Chinese silver. The alloy of nickel and zinc provide a white shiny surface when polished. The boxes of these water pipes are decorated in various ways, sometimes engraved, sometimes with colorful enamel.
A special way of smoking is opium smoking, for which a specific kind of pipe is invented, characterized by the globular bowl or damper in which the moist and substance from the opium damp can precipitate.
