Travel Opium Lamp

By the 18th century, opium use had become as central to Chinese social life as taking tea or smoking tobacco, fostering a subculture rich with its own customs, traditions, and exquisitely crafted accoutrements.

This curious object is an antique opium lamp, used to channel the precise amount of heat needed to vaporize the bit of opium placed in a pipe and held over the lamp. An unusual example, this particular lamp was designed to be portable and can collapse entirely within its brass case. A fantastic collector's item, we love this little lamp for the glimpse it gives at a bygone era.

Glass chimney is cracked.