Pipe collection in cigar box
May 2004
Collecting pipe bowls and stem fragments found in de fields is a hobby for young and old. Countless boxes and crates have been filled with clay pipe fragments and are still somewhere hidden in a cupboard waiting for renewed attention. The box shown here has since moved to that new destination and has even acquired a museum status. It is kept in our reserves as an example of such a cigar box collection. Incidentally, this is not so much about a group of pipe bowls that have been gathered at random, but about a genuine collection that has been brought together with love. The material was collected by the Amsterdam-based Onno Boers when he searched the area of his house as a boy. It is a good example of the care and dedication that many people cherish for the pipe as an archaeological find. This also applied to Onno, who, with his inquisitive mind, neatly labeled all his finds and additionally wrote down the information in a notebook. Seriously and as a playful pass-time at the same time he captured the history of his expeditions and the background of the pipe fragments for posterity. A wonderful proof of an Amsterdam boy's interest in history and curious enough to preserve because our museum collection was once started in such a cigar box.
Amsterdam Pipe Museum APM 17.366
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