An unexpected image of the devil

July 2008

The Louis Fiolet company in Saint-Omer was a master in designing pipes and many products from its factory have a great deal of originality. This also applies to this figural pipe, the bowl showing a devil. But not an ordinary devil, of which only the portrait is depicted in the pipe bowl. This is a seated figure, depicted from the front and represented with a long staff and a text vane that can be seen over his left shoulder. The show is finished in two ways. First, a red-baking engobe has been used to tint the face and naked body of the devil. In addition, enamel paint has been applied in pink, white and black to make the appearance of the pipe more cheerful. A nice time document is the label glued onto the stem with "France" printed on it. This indication was mandatory for goods that were transported to the United States. They point to a date around 1890 and were stuck over the stamped brand marking to complete the brand. Soon afterwards the country of origin would be included in the stem intaglio.

Amsterdam Pipe Museum APM 19.273

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