Pat,

These small, relatively plain reed stem pipes are difficult to distinguish and as you suggest were made at many different potteries.  The chief characteristics of yours are the small size, distinct rib at the end of the stem, and less prominent but distinct rib at the edge of the bowl.  

In Ohio, this general type occurs at the factories in Point Pleasant, Mogadore, and Akron.  Those from Mogadore and Akron have the rib at least a slight distance below the edge of the bowl, and I feel confident that yours was not made at either place.

In form yours looks closest to one from the Kirkpatrick-Peterson factory at Point Pleasant, which Thomas and Burnett called PL-4 and I called Point Pleasant Ringed Elbow var. A.  However, your dimensions are a little smaller.  Var. A has bowl diameter 25-26 mm, maximum length 39-40 mm; maximum height 37-40 cm. Stem diameter is 12-14 mm.  

Is the stem on your specimen complete enough to measure maximum diameter and bore diameter?  When you say “diameter of the bowl mouth,” do you mean maximum diameter or diameter of the interior of the bowl?  And I take your “length of bowl” to be the maximum vertical “length,” which is usually termed “height.”  Is the maximum length of the pipe a total of your bowl diameter and stem length: 22 plus 18 = 40 mm?

The nearby Tom Peterson pottery made lots of plain styles but most lack a ring around the bowl lip.  There is a smaller form very similar but seems to have a proportionately longer stem. Most are characterized by a distinctive shape to the interior base of the bowl, which has a step or platform surrounding a slightly deeper indentation.  It would be very interesting if your pipe shows this feature, as that would just about clinch the identity.

Some of the brown coloration may be due to oxidation of adjacent metal but the red-brown coloration is also typical of many of these stoneware pipes, which vary from gray to various shades of brown.    

Jim Murpy
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----- Original Message -----
From: Patrick Tucker <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Saturday, September 29, 2007 9:31 pm
Subject: Clay Pipe Identification

> Can anyone identify this clay pipe as to type or possibly 
> manufacturer? It
> is plain (no decoration) and gray in color with a short stem. It 
> has a mould
> seam in the front and back running the length of the pipe. 
> Diameter of the
> bowl mouth is 22mm. Length of the bowl is 35mm. Length of stem is 
> only 18mm.
> There is some discoloration on the bowl due to oxidation of metal 
> (probablyiron). The object comes from an archaeological site known 
> as Port of
> Miami/Orleans (33Wo50) on the Maumee River in northwest Ohio, and 
> dates ca.
> 1810-1850. I suspect the pipe was locally manufactured, like redware
> pottery, and post-dates CE 1850 since it comes from the surface of 
> the site.
> White clay (kaolin) pipes (bowls and unmarked stems) were found within
> specific features and the plow zone. The site contains a residential
> structure (cabin remodeled into or succeeded by a frame house with 
> a brick
> foundation). Digital images of the pipe can be found at the links 
> below.
> 
> 
> http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r230/Pat_Tucker/33Wo50PipeGrayClayShortSt
> emNo425Lef.jpg
> 
> 
> 
> http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r230/Pat_Tucker/33Wo50PipeGrayClayShortSt
> emNo425Rig.jpg
> 
> 
> 
> http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r230/Pat_Tucker/33Wo50PipeGrayClayShortSt
> emNo425Bot.jpg
> 
> 
> 
> Pat Tucker
> 
> French Canadian Heritage Society of Michigan
> 
> Detroit
> 
> 
>