Tobacco pipe rim and bowl with stamped "TD" with botanical inside rouletted circle.

This is a fragment of a white clay tobacco pipe, the bowl of which is stamped with the initials “TD” surmounted by a botanical element inscribed within a rouletted circle. Smoking tobacco was an activity that permeated the lives of eighteenth century people. Individuals as diverse as planters and enslaved laborers, men and women, adults and children may all have used objects such as this pipe. Moreover, pipes would have been used while these individuals carried out a variety of activities, from relaxed socializing to laboring. Along with many of the other consumer goods of the eighteenth century American household, white clay pipes like this were primarily manufactured in Britain.

It is most likely the initials “TD” refer to the manufacturer of this pipe, given that the artifact was recovered from a deposit that dates to the third quarter of the eighteenth century. In that case, this pipe could be the product of Thomas Dormer who worked in London between the years 1748 and 1770. A similar “TD” pipe was found in archaeological excavations in the South Grove Midden.

Pipes like these may have arrived at Mount Vernon through bulk purchases by George Washington, who himself placed at least two orders through his London merchant for pipes in 1762 and 1773. Alternatively, such items were readily available for purchase from the local stores frequented by less affluent free, and some enslaved, individuals. Such pipes were fragile, but cheap in the eighteenth century. Their ubiquitous presence in everyday life, means that they are a common find on eighteenth century archaeological sites. In fact, a similar pipe was recovered from the South Grove Midden excavations (object 1694523).