Chinese Opium Pipe Bowl

A smooth, dark, round disc with a green dot at the crown

This opium pipe bowl is from China, and dates to the mid 19th century. It is stamped pottery. Opium bowls set into pipe tops were often earthenware, especially Yixing clay also used for teapots, which absorbs residues, so the bowls were believed to improve with use. A rounded, lens-shaped object with a very smooth surface in dark brown and gray, lightly polished at the shoulders. A tiny greenish spot sits in the center of the top. It is 1 inches high and 2.25 in diameter.

A pebble with ambitions, and the polish to match.