Very small pipe with a bamboo stem and a brass bowl. The glass mouthpiece is made to simulate jasper. Small pipes like this were used to smoke ‘red pills’ (hong wan) which consisted in fact of a mixture of heroin or morphine. These pills came into use after the 1906 Prohibition on opium smoking in China. The pipe dates from the late Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1912) to early Republic period (1912 – 1947). Length 11.5 cm. Bowl outside width 1.1 cm.
