Mini-expo Calabashes for Sherlock
29 October 2017
On the occasion of the appearance of Sherlock Holmes in our museum during the #Museum Night, we organize a mini-exhibition under the title Calabashes for Sherlock. In a table display case a series of tobacco pipes are shown that in principle could have been smoked by Sherlock Holmes. Characteristic of his pipe is that the pipe bowl is built into the top of a gourd, a specific fruit. Because the opening is wide, a meerschaum insert is made for the bowl. Calabash pipes were mounted with stems of amber, hard rubber or plastic. Silver settings give the luxurious look to these pipes. The calabash pipe owes its popularity mainly to its user comfort. The smoke is pleasantly cooled by the hollow interior space in the gourd. Unfortunately, we cannot offer that smoking experience in our mini-exhibition, that is on view till the end of December.
PermalinkAnnouncement Museum Night
17 October 2017
The new posters for the Amsterdam Museum Night on 4 November have been presented. Smashing design as usually, a future collectors’ item. They are all over the city now! Save the date to meet the real Sherlock Holmes in the Amsterdam Pipe Museum or to make a speed tour through our museum. Also, our bar-tabac is open the full evening.
PermalinkPipe in Art
15 October 2017
Amsterdam Ornis A. Gallery presents a exhibition of paintings under the title The Ideology of Pipe Smoking. It is the work of young artist Bart Kok. He is inspired by a citation of one of his teachers at the St. Lucas Academy in Antwerp. This teacher stated that in his time –talking about the 1950’s – many artists were hanging around in their studios, staring at their own work, smoking a pipe. This reflecting thinking about your own prestations is just what Kok experiences and what he displays in his paintings, giving the tobacco pipe a prominent role. To be seen at Hazenstraat 11, Amsterdam, until 18 November 2017.
PermalinkCity Walk
14 October 2017
The Amsterdam City Walk passed the Amsterdam Pipe Museum for the second time this year. This annual event brings together more than 20,000 walkers, who all saw the mega sign of the museum. Good for our name recognition. Many people already knew the museum, because of our recent participation in a popular TV program on the national television. A nice double result.
PermalinkFour generations Stokkebye
11 October 2017
For four generations the Danish name Stokkebye is related to pipe tobaccos. Since a few years a new line of tobaccos is presented under the name of Erik Peters. Four special mixtures represent the four generations of directors of this firm. While visiting our pipe shop and museum in Amsterdam Erik Stokkebye jr., now working in the US, presented his matching tobacco pipes for the first time in the Netherlands. The designs are based on historic shapes with a modern twist that gives them a refreshing style.
PermalinkDatabse for deaccessioning of museum objects
9 October 2017
Many museums, especially te older ones, have objects that don’t fit in their collection. Today a museum cannot sell an object, just like that, because it is in public ownership. Since a few years the Dutch museums have access to a dedicated website for deaccessioning museum object. It enables to offer objects to other museums. For the first time #AmsterdamPipeMuseum put something on: a French figural pipe, representing ‘the wandering Jew’. Not that the pipe doesn’t fit into the collection, but because it is damaged. Recently we have bought a perfect copy of the same pipe, so the damaged one can be replaced.
PermalinkForty years ago
4 October 2017
Exactly today it is forty years ago that the still young Don Duco visited researcher and collector Sjoerd Laansma. In the nineteen fifties and sixties Laansma who lived in Gouda, studied the pipe industry and collected clay pipes and paraphernalia. His serious interest was encouraged by the last director of the Zenith pipe works founded 1749, the late Dirk van der Want. That adventure resulted in his stencil printed publication on the pipe makers marks of Gouda. Because Laansma shifted his historical interest in other directions in 1977, he offered his collection of pipe makers tools for sale. That opportunity brought our museum a fine set of tools from the famous firm P. van der Want Gzn. The illustrated rare agate polishing tool is part of this group.
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