Gift from a grateful visitor

30 May 2016

The Amsterdam Pipe Museum attracts many foreign visitors. A Portuguese visitor was so excited about the collection that he wished to support the museum. A week later a package arrived by post, containing four pipes as a donation to the museum collection. His father received these pipes in the '60 in Angola, which was at the time a Portuguese province. At that time it was a wonderful gesture from a satisfied patient, now it is a nice compliment to our museum! The moment was extra special, having a mini-exhibition on Angola pipes now.

Special pipes from Angola

12 May 2016

From 12 May until 20 August 2016 Amsterdam Pipe Museum has ”Special pipes from Angola" as an exhibition of objects from our reserves. Local Angolese tribes as the Ovimbudu, Tschokwe and Songo carved pipes out of softwood. To prevent the wood from burning, the inner bowl is covered with sheet metal. Special feature of these tribal pipes are the figural carvings on the stem, such as masks or sitting persons. To get a cool smoke, these wooden bowls were attached to long iron stems. Other tribes used more practical, short stemmed smoking pipes using the same materials.

Pipe tools

6 May 2016

A trivial item is the pipe tool, a handy three-in-one instrument, indispensable for the pipe smoker. Over several generations it has been in use, starting as a simple pipe tamper or pipe cleaner. By 1920 the practical instrument was introduced, combining stopper and cleaning devices. The tamper is used during smoking, the pricker and spoon when the pipe is empty for scraping out the bowl and keeping the stem open. Pipe tools exist in varieties, a dozen of which are shown in this chapter. Most common is the mass produced instrument from the Check Republic, of which many millions have been sold. Opposite is a luxurious pen shaped instrument in briar wood, unscrewed showing the tools, where pricker and scraper are combined. Collectors look for these implements and enjoy bringing together the minimal varieties.