The Chinese Opium Pipe
An opium pipe is a pipe designed for the vaporization and inhalation of opium. True opium pipes allow for the drug to be vaporized while being heated over a special oil lamp known as an opium lamp. It is thought that this manner of “smoking” opium began in the seventeenth century when a special pipe was developed that vaporized opium instead of burning it.
The controversy of the Opium Wars and the subsequent British opium trade with China is still widely remembered today. What has been forgotten is that by the time the trade was banished, and opium smoking began to be effectively eradicated in China, it had already become an integral part of Qing dynasty culture, indulged in at every level of Chinese society – from the lowliest rickshaw pullers to the court eunuchs within the luxurious chambers of old Peking’s Forbidden City. And to satisfy the sophisticated tastes of China’s noble, mandarin, and merchant classes, the paraphernalia and ritual of opium smoking reached dizzying artistic heights. Opium pipes, opium lamps and other accoutrements were crafted from the finest materials – ivory, jade, silver, cloisonné and porcelain.
Beginning in the 18th century, opium accompanied the Chinese diaspora: first to the Chinese quarters of Asian cities, and later to the Chinatowns of the West, particularly North America, where opium smoking in the Chinese manner and with Chinese-made paraphernalia became fashionable among non-Chinese.
Once the drug was banned and its paraphernalia outlawed, these illicit items were heaped into piles and burned in public bonfires. From Shanghai to Saigon to San Francisco, the means to smoke opium were destroyed along with the drug itself. So few examples of these relics remain that most experts on Chinese art are blithely unaware of just how sumptuous and opulent this art form had become during its heyday.
The one seen on this photo is part of a collection that my family possesses, no longer in use, it’s more of a decorative piece now. Have you seen one before this?
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Jul 12, 2009 @ 10:55 pm
Adele@ichigo.ramen
Wow! So cool to have it as part of your family’s personal collection. It’s a rare antique now, hard to come by.
Haven’t seen a real opium pipe before. Only in pics, old chinese style movies and anime XD
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Jul 13, 2009 @ 12:55 am
Michael Yip
You can actually find quite a number of it in Hong Kong but they are fake though. Can clearly see as those will have some modern stamps at the bottom of the pipe indicating place of production. LOL
But this real deal, definitely going to be kept for as long as we’re alive.
Jul 13, 2009 @ 1:15 am
jolene
i remember seeing 1 in my parents’ home
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Jul 13, 2009 @ 5:47 am
Michael Yip
Make sure you keep it. Will worth quite a bit as there’s not many left that’s properly working.
Jul 13, 2009 @ 10:02 am
Huai Bin
Hey, that’s a really cool item. Very nice, I wish my family had one.
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Jul 13, 2009 @ 11:22 am
Angie Tan
I wonder…. if the smell of the opium is still there or not?
I may have seen it at a friend’s place when I was a kid. I thought it was more like for small kids to drink from. LOL!
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Jul 13, 2009 @ 1:22 pm
CWKen
whoa classic item sia hahaha
eh wat happened to ur header slideshow?
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Jul 14, 2009 @ 12:59 am
Calvin Baker
Michel,, I would like to send you some photos of my opium pipe. It stll has all the tools required to use it and all the chains. Done in closinne. I slso have an original hand carved Chinese opium bed that is enclosed on 3 sides with carved scenes and the canopy top. I just need the address and I will send photos of both.
Thanks
Calvin
Feb 25, 2010 @ 12:50 am