No 4. Pipe Tamper legs - the first of many

 If you have followed my 3 posts so far, you should by now know what Microtibialism is all about, even if the word is not in the OED!! (At least I’ve got my spell check to recognise it and not question it every time I use the word!!!)

My comprehensive record is proving very useful, and the time setting it up was time well spent. The beauty of spreadsheets is that you can set the parameters to produce a list in whatever format you want. My handy copy is in alphabetical order by type. This is a snapshot of the schedule. 

Drawer	Number	Type	Bought	Where	Cost	Discount		Antique?	Material
										Detail
C	27	HC	9.03.12	Staff	25				plastic	Plastic moustache comb in leather wallet
D	79	HP	12.11.16	Staff	15			A	Mix	German hand game  "shoe on foot" Promotion gift
G	113	IM	22.8.97	Brighton	6				silver	EPNS Bought The Lanes, Brighton

 

Followers may be surprised to know how many different ways and/or materials a leg can be portrayed. This is my full list of 38 different categories, which also shows how many I have of each type. Clearly Pipe Tampers, 45% of the total, is the main item, with Boot and Button Hooks next, then knitting needle guards….. the latter a subject I have not mentioned yet!..just to whet your appetite!

 

A	Pipe Tamper	PT	46		One example of each
A	Button Hook	BH	9		Tooth Brush	TB
A	Knitting Needle Guard	KG	9		Leg Brooch	LB
	Bottle Opener (Lever)	BO	8		Door Knocker	DK
A	Shoe Horn	SH	6		Pipe Reamer	PR
A	Smoking Pipe	SP	6		Toothpick	TP
A	Vesta Cases	VC	6		Nail File	NF
	Pen Knife	PK	5	A	Steel Calipers	SC
	Corkscrew	CS	5		Isle of Man Tongs	IM
A	Nutcracker	NC	4	A	Knitting Sheath	KS
	Cigarette Lighter	CL	4	A	Pen Nib Holder/Stanhope	PN
A	Walking Cane	WC	4	A	Porcelain Dolls Legs	PL
	Comb	HC	3	A	Folding Scissors	FS
	Tweezers	TW	3	A	Stanhope boot	SB
A	Jewellery   (Charms)	JW	4	A	Flesh Fork	FF
A	Needle Case   (Treen)	NE	3	A	Sheet Turner	ST
	Glass Bottle	GB	3
	Golf Tee	GT	2		Hand Puzzle  (German)	HP
	Cheroot Cutter	CC	2		Misc     Unidentified	MI
	Bottle Stopper	BS	2
					TOTAL    151

 

The letter A denotes is that I have one or more true antiques in that category. There may be others which my research will disclose. 

This week I’m going to take 4 of my collection of Pipe Tampers and tell you about them. In later posts I will cover some of the other interesting ones.  The current stock of 46 tampers, come in many different materials. I have examples in Brass, Bronze, Bone, Wood, Mother of Pearl, and Ivory. It may surprise you to see wood, but I do have some; the amount that they are subjected to heat is insufficient for them to catch fire!!   Oh and by the way, I have just one item in my collection which is not a human foot, but it's inclusion can be justified!!  keep watching this space.

For some reason Tampers used to be called Pipe Stoppers, a title I never hear these days. Originally tampers had a small diameter, but as time progressed the diameter increased to all but fit the size of the pipe bowl.

Tobacco did not come to the UK until 1586 and pipe tampers were not known in the UK until the 1700’s – 18^th century examples are quite rare. The late 1800’s is the likely age of the older examples seen in modern times, if you are lucky. I have 2 from the 18^th century, mine said to be 1760 and 1790.

The first of the four I bought in 2014 at the quality antique fair at the NEC and is bone.  The dealer had dated it c1790 and described it as a seal.  As the wide end is cross hatched, (which is the normal style of a Tamper to help with tamping of tobacco,) a seal would normally have a logo or pattern to make a mark on a sealed document, and I therefore doubt that definition. A cross hatch would not stamp/create an individual mark.

There are a couple of surface splits, confirming it is bone, and close examination of the carving shows that it is good but clearly created by hand. Whilst too small to see on the photograph, the 5 toes are very well carved, and all intact. Toes do often get damaged or broken off.

The second one is also bone, also bought at the NEC, in 2012.

It was said to be made by French Prisoners of war, c1810. I have to assume that this would refer to the Napoleonic wars, which makes it interesting to refer to the leg coming from the Napoleonic war years!    Of course, saying the leg was from c 1810 does give a wide range of possible years (1800 > 1820) and there is no definitive data available to clarify this conundrum. I conclude from the position of the lace holes that it is a right foot with the low heel designed as if for a man - the apparently frilly knickers are questionable! Nevertheless, it is a very good leg, and is hatched as it would be for a tamper.

Number three is a Treen Tamper, also from the NEC. It is made of the deep red coloured rosewood and is very well carved. C1820. To add a bit of character to carvings, Treen is often carved as legs with footwear looking like a pair of wrinkled Huntsman Boots, folded down and creased.  Many legs are fairly simple in shape, but skilled craftsman will create boots, or in some cases replicate muscles.  Other examples will be in later blogs. 

The last Tamper is made of Ivory, said to be from 1760, which I bought in my early days of collecting legs. It IS part of my collection, even if I do not intend to buy any more ivory. The small top is, I suspect, silver but it has no hallmark. This is a very good example of the small size of leg tampers that a lady would use, measuring less than 2ins.

So that is my first thesis on Leg Tampers.  And I’ll say it again, so you don’t fall into the trap.. they are TAMPERS, not Tamperers!

David