Crooked toes

June 2023

The pipe stopper is an indispensable tool for the smoker. This way you keep the correct resistance in the air flow during smoking, so that the tobacco continues to burn well. Every pipe smoker knows how important that is. As a small, handy instrument, the pipe stopper is ideally suited for curious designs, from industrial products to home crafts. You can't think of a subject that doesn't exist as a pipe stopper. This pipe stopper in the shape of a naked human leg was made in a German porcelain factory, probably in Bohemia, the current Czech Republic. A shapely woman's leg with an elegant shoe is more known because it gives a veiled erotic impression. Students in particular used such stoppers as a gift item, sometimes even with an appropriate inscription. That does not apply to this man's leg, especially with horror toes that stick out in all directions, which makes the object a repulsive article. The soft remnants of the flesh color that gave this leg its shocking realism reveal that the object has been used intensively. The cut above the thigh provides the flat surface to tamper your pipe in heart's content. During handling, the subtle polychrome wore away to what it is today. That would seem to prove that the stopper has been the owner's favorite and turned that object many hundreds of times between the fingers.

Amsterdam Pipe Museum APM 24.668

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