Addition to the collection pipe reamers

30 October 2013

Addition to the collection pipe reamers

Mr. W.F. den Herder was a well-known collector of antiques in the city of Goes in the south-western corner of the Netherlands (Zeeland). After he died his collections were sold in auction where we could acquire no less than thirty silver pipe cleaners. The collector from Zeeland was a pharmacist in Goes with a special interest in tobacco, a stimulant that was sold centuries ago as a medicine. In total he had some fifty silver pipe reamers, which used to be a typical Dutch accessories for pipe smokers. With this acquisition the collection of the Amsterdam Pipe Museum was put onto a high level as towards silver pipe tools. One of the more special ones acquired is the dog in his doghouse, a late eighteenth century political symbol.

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Newsletter

20 October 2013

Newsletter

The Amsterdam Pipe Museum issued number 20 of our Newsletter, the newest in a long row half yearly news from the museum. This issue is dedicated to the modern tobacco pipe and to pipe smoking. We choose this theme because of the change of name of our shop, from Smokiana Pipeshop to Amsterdam Pipe Shop. This new name is more to the point and indicates clearly the relation between museum and shop.

Apart from the name, the assortment also changed a bit. We already had a wide choice of pipes, which we extended with modern briars from France, England, Ireland, Germany and Italy. The total number of pipes in our assortment has now grown to 2,500, a unique assortment in the Benelux and probably beyond. For the regular smoker we added various classic pipes, but also more luxurious, handmade pipes of Italian design for the more discerning smoker who can value a fine grain, an exclusive design and the ultimate finish. Hopefully the extension of our assortment will be a good reason for the pipe smoker to visit Amsterdam Pipe Shop again.

Read our Newsletter on: http://www.pijpenkabinet.eng/ and click Newsletter 20 in the upper left corner.

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A bizarre Blackmoor

15 October 2013

A bizarre Blackmoor

The illustrated pipe has been added to the collection of the Amsterdam Pipe Museum earlier this month. It is a large advertising pipe or ‘pipe d’étalage’ with a height of over 20 centimeter made by Félix Wingender pipe works in Chokier near Liège. Next to the extreme size it is a rarity because this piece is the one and only example known, both in collections and in literature. The curator knew this pipe for over thirty years in a private collection, and finally we were able to acquire this rare object.

Despite its rarity this advertising pipe is not the most beautiful one and certainly not the most artistic. Both the modeling and painting are quite course in to bright colors. We found out that the shaping of this pipe is different from what was initially intended. For several years our museum documentation has already hold the original designs for this particular pipe. The designs, both full face and silhouette, show that the pipe was meant to be more refined. It is quite a chance that the drawings and the actual pipe did come together after so many years.

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Porcelain pipe bowls

12 October 2013

Porcelain pipe bowls

The oval porcelain pipe bowl or Stummel as it is called in Germany has been produced throughout the nineteenth century by almost every porcelain factory in Germany. Smokers admired these pipes because of their attractive painting. The quality of the paint work, displaying all sorts of subjects, runs from crude and simple mass produced flowers to the most delicate miniature painting finished with a one hair paint brush.

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Merits from Saint-Claude

10 October 2013

Merits from Saint-Claude

In the showcase behind the shop we made a small exhibition of modern tobacco pipes, entitled “Merits from Saint-Claude”. The selected pipes are fine examples of design in briar pipes, made in the capital of Briars: Saint-Claude in the French Jura. We acquired all pipes recently on the spot to complement the museum collection. In this way we keep our collections up-to-date.

Sebastien Beaud is a pipe maker who owns a small workshops and is represented with a pipe with facet-bowl inspired by cubism. The Butz-Chouin factory made an original pipe, related to the artist René Magritte. The pipe is sold as three separate parts in a tin with a printed label stating "Ceci est une pipe". The pipe bowl is shaped like the famous bowler hat of the Belgian artist, especially when closed off with a lid that forms the rim of the hat.

The Chacom firm is currently the leading pipe producer in Saint-Claude. The young director, Antoine Grenard, is trained as a designer and has daring ideas. One of the follies he made is a so-called ‘grolle’, a pipe with four stems, referring to the liquor glass with four sprouts that is popular during the annual market to taste the new eau-de vie. Other pipes from his firm are more serious pipes, with new shapes and a new finishing, such as the pipe covered in fine Thai wickerwork. This changes the appearance of the pipe completely, covering up the wooden structure.

The mini-expo is open to the public on all opening hours: Wednesday through Saturday noon to 6 PM.

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