Bloody hunting scene

February 2008

A gorgeous hunting scene has been carved around this wooden pipe bowl, displaying a pack of dogs with the tongue out of the mouth attacking a boar, a deer and a bear. In the stem corner, always a somewhat difficult place for decoration, we see two animals that bite each other in the tail or in the flank. The representation is very swirling around the pipe bowl, but the charm of the object is mainly defined by the fine carving. This is not an over-decorated piece in horror vacui, but it is in fact the unadorned background that brings power into the scene. In addition, the shape of the pipe is perfect, balancing between a bag shape and the higher Hungarian. It is difficult to trace the origin of such pipes, but if the stem with the silver fittings is a genuine part of this object, the city of Ulm must be the place of manufacture.

Amsterdam Pipe Museum APM 19.092

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