Al Luckenbach and Taft Kiser
Seventeenth-Century Tobacco Pipe Manufacturing in the Chesapeake Region: A Preliminary Delineation of Makers and Their Styles

Ceramics in America 2006

Full Article
Contents
  • Figure 1
    Figure 1

    Map of the Chesapeake region showing the location of the principal archaeological sites discussed in the text. (Artwork, Nichole Drgan.)


    1.  Swan Cove
    2.  Homewood’s Lot
    3.  Burle’s Town Land
    4.  Broadneck
    5.  Old Chapel Field
    6.  St. Mary’s City (Pope’s Fort, St. Johns)
    7.  Nomini Plantation
    8.  Shirley Plantation
    9.  Walter Aston
    10. Jordan’s Point
    11. Flowerdew Hundred
    12. Jamestown
    13. College Landing
    14. Kingsmill Tenement – Pettus
    15. Bennett Farm
    16. Harborview (Nansemond Fort)
    17. Chesopean

  • Figure 2
    Figure 2

    Drawing of pipe mold, 1688. From Randle Holme’s Academy of Armory, shelfmark HARLEY.5955; FJ/245. (© British Library Board)

  • Figure 3
    Figure 3

    Kiln furniture and pipes, Emanuel Drue, Maryland, ca. 1660. Earthenware. (Courtesy, Anne Arundel County, Maryland; photo, Al Luckenbach.) Recovered from the Swan Cove site, these artifacts include cross-pipe props, decorating tool, bun, and pipes.

  • Figure 4
    Figure 4

    Tobacco pipes, Emanuel Drue, Maryland, ca. 1660. Earthenware. Top: Drue Type B, belly bowl. Center: Drue Type A, angular elbow. Bottom: presentation “Crumm Horn” pipe. (Courtesy, Anne Arundel County, Maryland; photo, Al Luckenbach.)

  • Figure 5
    Figure 5

    Tobacco pipe, Robert Cotton, Virginia, ca. 1608. Earthenware. (Preservation Virginia; photo, Beverly A. Straube.) This decorated elbow pipe is from the Jamestown excavations.

  • Figure 6
    Figure 6

    Tobacco pipe, Richard Pimmer, Virginia, ca. 1659. Earthenware. D. of spur .67"; H. of bowl 1.69". Mark: “RP” on pipe spur. (Courtesy, Virginia Department of Historic Resources; photo, Taft Kiser.) This pipe was found at the Nansemond Fort site (44SK192).

  • Figure 7
    Figure 7

    Tobacco pipe, Bookbinder, Virginia, ca. 1640. Earthenware. D. of stem .47"; D. of bore .15". (Courtesy, Virginia Department of Historic Resources; photo, Taft Kiser.) This angular elbow pipe is from the Chesopean site (44VB48).

  • Figure 8
    Figure 8

    Tobacco pipe stems, Bookbinder, Virginia, ca. 1640. Earthenware. D. of pipe stem (average) .47"; D. of bore .14". (Courtesy, Virginia Department of Historic Resources; photo, Taft Kiser.) These three stems, found at the Chesopean site (44VB48), show the strict decorative grammar used by Bookbinder.

  • Figure 9
    Figure 9

    Tobacco pipe, Bookbinder, Virginia, ca. 1640. Earthenware. D. of stem .47"; D. of bore .14". (Courtesy, Virginia Department of Historic Resources; photo, Taft Kiser.) This close-up of a pipe from the Chesopean site (44VB48) shows Bookbinder’s detailed “grill work” decoration.

  • Figure 10
    Figure 10

    Tobacco pipes, Broadneck maker, Maryland, ca. 1650. Earthenware. (Courtesy, Anne Arundel County; photo, Al Luckenbach.) This complete assemblage of pipes from the Broadneck site (18AN818) shows the predominance of the Broadneck style.

  • Figure 11
    Figure 11

    Tobacco pipe, Broadneck maker, Virginia, ca. 1650. Earthenware. H. of bowl 1.61"; D. of bore .12". (Courtesy, Virginia Department of Historic Resources; photo, Taft Kiser.) This Broadneck bowl was found at the Wills Cove site (44SK56).

  • Figure 12
    Figure 12

    Tobacco pipe, Broadneck maker, Virginia, ca. 1650. Earthenware. D. of rim .75". (Courtesy, Virginia Department of Historic Resources; photo, Taft Kiser.) Broadneck rim decoration adorns this pipe from the Wills Cove site (44SK56).

  • Figure 13
    Figure 13

    Tobacco pipe, possibly J. Drue, ca. 1645. Earthenware. Mark: “JD.” (Courtesy, Preservation Virginia; photo, Beverly A. Straube.) This Broadneck-style pipe was recovered at the Jamestown excavations.

  • Figure 14
    Figure 14

    Tobacco pipes, Star Maker, Virginia, ca. 1640. Earthenware. H. of bowls (average) 1.65"; D. of bores .11–.12". (Courtesy, Virginia Department of Historic Resources; photo, Taft Kiser.) The Star Maker’s decorative grammar is represented on these four pipes from the Walter Aston site (44CC178).

  • Figure 15
    Figure 15

    Tobacco pipe, Star Maker school, Virginia, ca. 1640. Earthenware. H. of bowl 1.5"; D. of bore .12". Mark: “WA” (Walter Aston?). (Courtesy, Virginia Department of Historic Resources; photo, Taft Kiser.) This Star Maker pipe was found at the Walter Aston site (44CC178).

  • Figure 16
    Figure 16

    Tobacco pipe, Star Maker school, Virginia, ca. 1640. Earthenware. H. of bowl 1.26". Mark: “DK” (David Kirke?). (Courtesy, Virginia Department of Historic Resources; photo, Taft Kiser.) This example is from the Walter Aston site (44CC178). 

  • Figure 17
    Figure 17

    Tobacco pipe, Star Maker school, Virginia, ca. 1640. Earthenware. Mark: “DK” (David Kirke?). (Courtesy, Colony of Avalon Foundation; photo, Jim Tuck and Barry Gaulton.) This Star Maker pipe was found in Newfoundland. At left is the decorated mark that appears on one side of the bowl; at right is the bowl’s reverse side, showing a star decoration. 

  • Figure 18
    Figure 18

    Tobacco pipe, Nomini Maker, Virginia, ca. 1660. Earthenware. H. of bowl 2.17"; D. of bore .17". (Courtesy, Virginia Department of Historic Resources; photo, Taft Kiser.) This version of a Nomini pipe was found at the Nomini Plantation (44WM12). 

  • Figure 19
    Figure 19

    Tobacco pipe, Nomini Maker, Virginia, ca. 1660. Earthenware. H. of bowl 1.93"; D. of bore .15". (Courtesy, Virginia Department of Historic Resources; photo, Taft Kiser.)

  • Figure 20
    Figure 20

    Tobacco pipe, Nomini Maker, Virginia, ca. 1660. Earthenware. H. of bowl 1.85". (Courtesy, Virginia Department of Historic Resources; photo, Taft Kiser.)

  • Figure 21
    Figure 21

    Tobacco pipe, Nomini Maker, Virginia, ca. 1660. Earthenware. H. of bowl 2.17". (Courtesy, Virginia Department of Historic Resources; photo, Taft Kiser.) Illustrated here is an example of a Running Deer pipe.

  • Figure 22
    Figure 22

    Tobacco pipes, The Carver, Virginia, ca. 1640. Earthenware. H. of bowl (average) 1.65"; D. of bore (average) .14". (Courtesy, Virginia Department of Historic Resources; photo, Taft Kiser.) This assemblage of bowls and stems is from the Kingsmill Tenement (44JC39). 

  • Figure 23
    Figure 23

    Pipe-making waste, Pope’s Fort Maker, Maryland, ca. 1646. Earthenware. (Courtesy, Historic St. Mary’s City, Maryland; photo, Silas Hurry.) This waste is from the moat at Pope’s Fort. 

  • Figure 24
    Figure 24

    Tobacco pipe, Maryland, ca. 1660. Earthenware. (Courtesy, Anne Arundel County; photo, Shawn Sharpe.) Traditional Running Deer pipe from the Homewood’s Lot site, Anne Arundel County, Maryland.