Giant pipe with exhibition building

January 2005

In the last part of the nineteenth century, countless giant pipes emerged on the market in England, that were known under all sorts of names. Four hours smoking pipe, giant or cadger were used as indication, among others. They are made in various shapes and with numerous decorations. Time-bound copies show the facade of an exhibition building around the bowl. The oldest version is the Chrystal Palace from Hyde Park in London, built in 1852 on the occasion of the first major English world exhibition. Fifteen years later, a similar building is rising in Manchester, but with a different silhouette dominated by a central dome. That design is also depicted on cadgers, as the accompanying pipe shows. Cheerful detail in the silhouette of the building are the large waving flags on either side with the British flag in the top corner. Below the continuous façade wall we see a stylized leaf motif flanked by a curl on either side. The stem often shows a text shield on both sides, sometimes filled in with the name of the maker and the place of origin. With this pipe that shield has been left blank and that indicates that the pipe comes from a less authoritative factory.

Amsterdam Pipe Museum APM 17.448

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