HAND PAINTED SHIP PORTRAIT on a white porcelain pipe. Art form that 19th century ship captains commissioned while  visiting the port of Hamburg, Germany. Front with a beautifully rendered port view portrait of a ship that flies a large American flag. Below, within a gilt band, is the vessel name "REAL..". The last letter isn't clear but I believe it refers to the ship REALM that was built in Bath, Maine in 1848. The reverse with a poem in gilt script letters "Grege Wrech/Thy Father to/his boy doeth/say that ___/King takes the/life away/-*-/1852." Condition excellent. 5" tall x 1 1/4" diameter at the top. This item is one of a small grouping of this unique form of ship portraiture that I assembled over several decades. Only example painted on a pipe that I ever came across.