Cigar holder as a vice

September 2008

The second half of the nineteenth century is the time when the most remarkable cigar holders came into existence. The cigar is highly fashionable and many pipe smokers leave their traditional tobacco pipe and opt for the cigar. This pipe is a very special example of a cigar holder. It looks more like being made by an instrument maker than by a traditional pipe maker. The object has the appearance of a vice and does actually function. The tool has been made perfectly true to nature, including the springs that must keep the jaws of the screw open. The actual cigar holder is clamped between the jaws of the vice, the stem attachment is arranged on the cam of the crank of the screw. Thus the object became functional. Also pay attention to the tail of the vice, which normally stands on the floor to be able to hammer on the instrument. Here it has been given an elegant turn, of course to make the pipe more practical to handle. White metal was used as the material, an alloy between iron, nickel and perhaps zinc. We can’t say where such an object was made, but most likely it came about with an instrument maker, who was a fanatic cigar smoker and enjoyed creating it. Probably for his own use.

Amsterdam Pipe Museum APM 19.263

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