File:Post Medieval pipe tamper (FindID 1009674).jpg

English: Cast copper-alloy Post Medieval pipe tamper with missing tamper at the base. Modelled in the round the tamper consists of a full length female figure naked from the waist up with gathered hair in a pony tail flowing down the back to her lower shoulders. The right arm is bent at the elbow with the forearm and hand positioned across the body below the bust. The left arm hangs slightly out to the side with the hand curving backwards. The legs are set slightly apart with the right one just canted at the knee. The ankles and beyond probably joined a plinth as a tamper, but all is now missing from old breaks. The upper groin and lower belly are decorated in modesty with a seven pointed petalled flower. Moulded folds leading up to the crossed right hand and to the side of the waist suggest the arm is lifting a probable undergarment to reveal the nether regions. The buttocks on the reverse are moulded as naked. The belly is slightly pronounced and interpreted together with the flower it is not entirely clear if this tamper is intended to be erotic or is perhaps a symbol of fecundity. Related tampers can be seen on the PAS database cf. <a href="https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/490335">YORYM-628701</a> and <a href="https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/976879">WMID-2EB414</a> albeit these two examples purport to represent Venus. The date is circa 18th-19th century.