Pipe Stamps
Pipemakers frequently marked their products with stamps placed at significant positions on the pipes. From the excavations at Roy's orchard, 76 different stamps have been recovered.
Of these, 38 are thought to have been used on the site;
the remainder either residual or the result of casual visitor loss. Of those used on site, 10 are full name, 13 are initials, and the remaining 15 in the from of various symbols.
New insight into the meaning of this diversity is developing as a result of mould identification. Examination of differences in the forms of the pipes and small flaws in the heel area has allowed
the identification of 35 distinctly seperate moulds.
This figure will inevitably rise as work progresses.
It can now be seen that pipes from a single mould occur with various different stamps ranging from full name to the simplist symbols. The different stamps used is therefore likely to reflect market rather than maker. It can also be seen that certain makers shared moulds and so presumably work space whilst others worked exclusively with a single mould, possibly bringing the finished pipes to the site for firing.
| Full name stamps | Initial stamps | Symbol stamps |
|
John Barns Iohn Hvmmvns Thomas Evens Stephens Watkins Gorg Brown Thomas Hopkins Clemen Melard Richard Haman Morris Shaw |
GB WH CM RH IB FT IL II RE WC |
Fleur de lis Heart Arrow Toothed bar Rose and Crown Wheel |
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