Opium Pipe, China, Rare And Important Old Piece In Silvered Brass From The 19th Century

Rare and important, opium pipe, 19th century China, in silver plated brass, decorated with a dragon and a phoenix, representations of the symbol of auspiciousness and good life.
The shaft has a buffalo horn insert with an ivory tip at the end.
The ivory is marked and delivered with a certificate. of October 23, 2020 which will be attached during the sale. Condition: very good collector's condition Slight discoloration throughout which gives it a very beautiful patina.
Some signs of wear which is normal given the age of the piece.
A beautiful object, unusual on the market, certainly created for an important person.
Object that will find its place in a beautiful collection. Dimensions: Length: 28 cm, width: 3.5 cm, height: 3.5 cm,
## "Opium was first for the exclusive use of mandarins, who smoked it to give themselves your". They offered some to those who visited them, as a curiosity, to do them honor, and these dared not refuse them. Gradually the habit spread among the rich classes, among the scholars, the nobility, people approaching by their position of mandarins, and even came, under the name of tobacco of honor, to the knowledge of the people who smoked it. first out of self-esteem, then out of taste. Today, there is not a district of China where he does not exercise his empire. He penetrated into the palace of sovereigns as well as into the cabin of the poor. The Chinese government is powerless to remedy the evil, it has everyone against it. [...] To indulge in this so-called delight, you have to bring different things: first a small lamp, a kind of oil night light; a pin 12 to 14 centimeters long, a pipe whose stem, which is three centimeters in diameter by thirty to thirty-five centimeters long, is surmounted by a porcelain ball pierced by a chimney wide for the introduction of a hairpin, and finally of opium in the aqueous state, contained most of the time in a shell. We take a drop of it with the help of the pin, we heat it slightly in the flame of the lamp, and when this drop puffs up and goes to dry up, we prick it on the hole of the porcelain bowl. One then lies down with one's head on a cushion, and with the left hand one brings the pipe to the lamp, while, with the right hand holding the needle, one brings back to the hole the burning opium, from which one aspires. a single long line of smoke. »
# " China, missionaries of the Saint-Augustin society, 1896 "
Dimensions: Length: 28 cm, width: 3.5 cm, height: 3.5 cm
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winsteinprovence@gmail.com ( texts, Winstein photo credits, all rights reserved ) The Orient, or oriental world, designates in geography a cultural concept mainly used by Europeans. Overall, the term designates “areas situated to the East of Europe”, Asia.