While walking through Ocean Terminal in Hong Kong in 1990, we discovered a small antiques shop which was about to be closed down. The owner showed us a number of very nice jades of which we bought three and then asked us if we might be interested in a jade opium pipe. As our reply was affirmative he pulled out this opium pipe from under the counter. We had never seen one with a jade stem and were flabbergasted. What a huge boulder must have been used to carve this stem. The simple design with an undecorated silver saddle immediately appealed to us and thus the pipe entered the Lowlands-collection. At the ends of the pipe are an ivory mouth piece and finial. The bowl is also made of Hetian jade and not of the much cheaper Xiuyu jade which one often encounters. The pipe dates from the 19th century. Length 50 cm. Diameter stem 1.9 cm. Height including the bowl 7 cm.