Summary

This tobacco pipe bowl was excavated at one of the digs conducted at the Commonwealth Block site between 1988 and 2003.

A pipeful of tobacco was long-lasting and its aroma disguised the stench of Melbourne's streets. The short clay pipe favoured by working men was called a 'cutty'. Being made of brittle clay, these pipes broke easily, explaining the abundance of fragments uncovered at Little Lon. Of the pipes excavated, many were decorated with slogans, patriotic symbols, even jokes and caricatures, hinting at the identities of those who smoked them.

Physical Description

This fragment of a clay pipe bowl has an elaborate moulded leaf scroll design and there are traces of varnish on the surface. The bowl is thicker than usual clay pipe bowls, and there seems to be the face of a mythologised creature at the base of the bowl, perhaps blowing up the stem.

Physical Description

Pipe bowl with elaborate moulded leaf scroll and traces of varnish on the surface. Bowl is thicker than usual clay pipe bowls. Previously recorded as having "the face of a mythologised creature (?a zephyr?) at the base of the bowl.

More Information