22 THE CLAY TOBACCO-PIPE IN BRITAIN
The foot or spur may be—
(a) Roughly cylindrical as shown.
(b) Heavy, heart-shaped in section, wider than the stem.
(c) Running off from stem without a step, to project
slightly in front.
(d) Formed by flat base to bowl.
(e) Cylindrical, but with prominent, forward-pointing toe.
(f) Conical in shape; a spur, downdard- or backward-
pointing.
(g) Absent altogether, the rounded base of the bowl merg-
ing into the stem.
Some local departures from the Midlands 'norm' are shown in
figure 6, and attention may be called to the following points:
In the West country, the Bristol pipes of early and mid-
seventeenth century tended to a longer bowl-shape15 than their
contemporaries from the Midlands, and the bowl had a
characteristic 'overhang' not found anywhere else at all19.
Irish and French pipes at any given time seem usually to be
smaller in bowl capacity than those of the Midlands, but the
bowls are of similar shape to those of their Midlands
contemporaries.
Dutch pipes are generally longer and less bulbous in the bowl
than the English norm in the early and mid-seventeenth century,
but after about 1670, the types tend to approximate, and to
remain similar thereafter.
KEY TO DATING OF CLAY-PIPES
A clay-pipe, or more usually, a portion of a broken pipe, is
found : let the following questions be considered where applicable;
the suggested datings are printed in CAPITALS, and a final
assessment should be made after weighing all the evidence and the
several dates derived therefrom.