Napoleon pipes

25 July 2021

Recently two pipes were placed in the temporary display case in the centre of our museum, so large that they fill the cabinet almost completely. Two monumental meerschaum pipes made in honour of Napoleon, both depicting the Emperor himself. They are a grateful subject during the museum tour, because each pipe bowl gives a different picture of the French emperor. One, according to the silver mark, dates from 1807, just after the campaign in which the Prussians were defeated. The scene with the Emperor on horseback is elaborated in great detail with his turbaned valet and bodyguard Roustam and fighters on the French and Prussian side around him. The other is much coarser and dates from the Second Empire around 1840. Here we see Napoleon in action, lighting the fuse of a large cannon himself. Even the lid shows the portrait of the emperor  in a meerschaum medallion.

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