UNIDENTIFIED OLD PIPE

[balkanizator]

a few days ago i found what seems to be a very nicely decorated old tobacco pipe. i googled the hell out of it and found nothing
if anyone here knows how old could it be or any info at all it would be greatly appreciated
thanks in advance!

 

[bootyhoundpa]

That is a very cool find...i have no idea but a few more details might help someone else such as ,what is it made of ? Clay? and where was it found ? kinda looks like a cornucopia design.. nice find..

 

[balkanizator]

it's not clay, in that case the detector wouldn't find it
it is a quite light metal material, something like alluminum but a bit gold/yellowish(could be from the time spent in the ground), and it has no marks at all. i found it a hundred meters from my house on a spot where i found some venetian coins from the 16th, 17th and 18th century. By the way i live in a small town called Buzet, located on the Istrian peninsula in Croatia.

 

[mudpuppy]

Give us a size reference...It could be a candle snuffer, like alter boys use? Nobody would make any pipe out of a weak light metal...? FWIW, I spent a little time on the Istrian peninsula in Croatia back in the 90's on business with a company called P&W who manufactured bandsaws that we imported to the US...beautiful place! Really sweet wood boats...
Mud

 

[balkanizator]

it was a bit strange that the material is so light, it would burn your fingers when you hold it... but it never came to me it could be a candle snuffer. great thinking man and not more than a hundred meters away there is a church that the local community(including my ancestors) built in the 17th century so it could be it
it weighs only 8 grams
anyway, here's a couple of pictures of it laying on my palm. on the second picture notice the opening has a thread on the inside. if the thread had some kind of function then the opening must have been squashed or something

btw: glad to hear you visited Istria, hope you had a nice time. it really is a nice place to live in. i'm like half an hour drive away from the sea and 15 minutes from the mountains so sadly i don't own any wood boats

 

[charlie dert]

The threads on the inside make me think plumbing related..water fountain spout..water spout to get water for flowers on graves..etc..I don't think it's a candle snuffer though..

 

[balkanizator]

the thread really wouldn't have any use on a candle snuffer or a tobacco pipe. it does look like it, but it maybe seems a bit too light and fragile for a water spout. i found it right next to my neighbors vineyard, and the nearest building is the 17th century church(100m away). as far as i know there were no plumbing installations or water fountains nearby. they say there was once a graveyard around the church but the church never had any water supply

 

[Dodqe]

Maybe something to do with a gas lamp, or a light fixture? Like a chandelier, or a wall sconce? great find, though. You should go back to the same area and see if you can find more clues.

 

[balkanizator]

could be almost anything... i scanned the area back and forth and all i found was a bunch of very old coins from the 16th to 19th century.

 

[senda]

It can be an ornament of a headstone or burial niche ... a support for a candle or something similar?
senda

 

[balkanizator]

just found out what the mysterious item is. it is a soda syphon. that's why it has a thread, so it could be screwed to a bottle like a cap.

 

[Explorer]

Nice find and conversation piece. Now you need to find an old soda bottle to display it on.

 

[DiggerODirt]

It is not threaded, as you cannot thread an oval...they are grips for a cover...Neat pipe

HH,

 

[PSS1963]

It is not threaded, as you cannot thread an oval...they are grips for a cover...Neat pipe

HH,

Doesn't that just mean it was round originally and got squashed?

-pete