Mill, farm and haystack

June 2008

When a rubber scarcity arose during the First World War, the Gouda pipe factories ran into problems. Their successful ceramic pipes were sold with a caoutchouc stem but due to a lack of stems, orders were missed. In that period the pipes were changed and got a stem of clay. A simple solution but not a pleasant one. The glazed stem end was not comfortable between the teeth, it was too smooth and too hard. It is therefore not surprising that these pipes were only produced over a short period. When the war was over, they disappeared as quickly as they had come. This pipe is such an example, but it is also an example for something else. On the bowl it shows a painting of a landscape with a mill, farm and haystack. A picture more for the tourist than for the Dutchman and therefore in Holland never highly valued. How fully undeserved. If you look closely at these pipes, you will see how skilfully such pictures were painted. In a limited colour palette and with a minimum of lines, they suggested the complete landscape, in this case even a winter landscape. Such impressionist scenes demand for the painter much more than a little craftsmanship.

Amsterdam Pipe Museum APM 19.149

Archive object of month