No 33. Six of the best!!

 Oh dear, Friday 13^th!!   Fortunately, I’m not superstitious

 

Let’s talk Pipe Tampers.  As you will know, Tampers constitute the majority of my leg collection, 30% to be exact, and it’s the next multiple category is just 5% of my collection,  10 Knitting Needle Guards.

I had a look at my Tampers collection, and since 2017, I have only added 10 in the last 5 years. Covid has seriously reduced the number of Antiques and Collectors fairs, events where I would hope to add to my collection.  But I am also finding that the limited number of fairs available for me to visit have less legs, especially Pipe Tampers. So, my market is drying up. Today we went to a large fair at Stafford and found no Tampers, but 4 Brass nutcrackers – they are not rare, and the only difference is the quality.

I don’t think there will be any tamper manufacturing these days. Smoking has seriously diminished, and as it is a rarity for me to see pipe smokers, Tampers will become redundant!  Maybe the reduction will lead to scarcity = increase in value!!

I’ve produced a bumper collection of Pipe Tampers for this Post, all in the same material - Brass.

This is the group photograph.

 

I have written about Brass items in the past and explained how legs are created by pouring liquid Brass into pre-shaped moulds. What I want to write about this time is the variety of these brass legs demonstrating the differences between/by different artisans.

    

                                               

1.Starting from the left, this is a neat little Tamper, probably used by a  lady.  This is a replica of a well-wrinkled Hunters Boot, a right foot with a small buckle on the right, and a zip on the back of the boot. The hatching on the top (to tamp tobacco) is neat and deep. Remembering that a mould has two sections, the  design variations can identify which leg, by such differences as a buckle on only one side.

This was the 5^th leg in my collection, bought in 2009 at the NEC.

                                                                                  

2. Compared with No 1, the second tamper does not have the same smart, or shiny finish, and as both sides are identical, which leg cannot be established.

                                      

3. The 3^rd leg is a very nice shape, and as always the skill of shaping the calf is the most important aspect. What is immediately obvious is that the colour is not the normal yellow brass.  There are a number of ways of changing the colour such as adding colourant to molten brass or by ageing the end product. Ammonia can also be used to alter the colour of a made leg.

                                    

 4. This is another hunter’s boot, in good shape, and a right leg. Again, like number 3 it has a deeper colour but It does not have hatching, which often tempts non-experts to say that it is a seal. There is of course no reason why the top cannot be engraved with initials and thus be used as a seal.

   

                                                    

5. Undoubtedly this lovely little tamper would be used by a lady and bearing in mind that the diameter of a smoking pipe used by a lady would be small, a small tamping head would be more appropriate. This one is said to be dated c1860 and I bought it at the NEC in 2017, some 150 years later.   

6.Finally, the largest leg in this small selection. Just a bare leg not letting me identify left or right leg. It is hatched  and in fact the flat sole enables it to stand upright! This leg has not been well finished, suggesting that quantity was more important than quality. It is hatched, so it would do the job although it is relatively heavy.

This one was bought at a good regularly visited fair at Exeter, in 2019.

 

I hope you enjoyed this comparison of six brass Tampers. Finding different styles, quality and material makes collecting just Leg Pipe Tampers an interesting collection on its own.