Chibouque with tsar portrait

August 2011

Many pipes seem easy to interpret, but on closer inspection appear to be full of mistery. This is the case with this special porcelain pipe bowl in the shape of an Ottoman chibouque with a dish shaped base. At first we see that it is an orientalistic piece of porcelain, but unmistakably from a European factory. Thanks to the shape with the octagonal dish and the conical pipe bowl, it seems that this is a follow-up to an early nineteenth-century Turkish chibouque. Because the porcelain cannot inform us about the origin, markings are non existent, hope is focused on the decoration. This could be either the style of the ornaments or the interpretation of the portrait oval showing the bust of  tsar Nicolas I, who diend in 1855. Unfortunately, here too, there appears to be no information for a more precise determination, except that it concerns an object from the period between 1830 and 1850. It is even unclear whether it is French or German porcelain. Despite the riddles, the pipe bowl is an exclusive piece of porcelain, made in a limited edition or executed as a special commission. A second example in this design and painting style is not yet known.

Amsterdam Pipe Museum APM 20.577

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