Opium Lamp Base

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 metal tripod vessel is the base to a 19th-century opium lamp, originally paired with a tapered glass dome that directed the heat of the flame. A unique keepsake from the past, the small lamp base is decorated with perforated floral motifs and darkened with an even patina.