At the entrance to “Objects of Addiction” , a new exhibit at the Harvard Art Museums, is displayed, front and center, a very large opium smoking pipe. Its size and elaborate design indicate that it was not a commoner’s opium pipe. This piece, being chosen as the front facing display of the exhibition, speaks to the widespread use of opium in China during the Opium War period and the powerfully consuming and destructive nature of this addiction. The Opium Wars […]