Browse the collection

The collection of the Amsterdam Pipe Museum is incredibly varied. On this page you can easily get acquainted with this wealth of shapes, types and materials. Choose one of the themes and browse the objects within this category. A short introductory text provides sufficient explanation to characterize the group.

Enlarge each photo by clicking on it. Below the photo is the collection number. If you click this number, the page will jump to a new tab showing the object records of that chosen object, where you can find all the information.

Do you like to see more or search more specifically, go to the page Search the collection. There is a search form for a more advanced search.

Enjoy our collection!

Pre-Columbian tobacco pipes
The oldest pipes in the world from the collection in the Amsterdam Pipe Museum

American Indian pipes
The most iconic pipes, next to the peace pipe and tomahawk also lesser common examples

Marks on clay pipes
Three centuries of pipe marks on Dutch clay pipes, both archaeological and historical

Pipefinds with relief
An overview of the wide variety of representations on Dutch clay tobacco pipes

Dutch clay pipes
The pipe in the 19th century: often traditional, sometimes amusing, but above all folk

French figural clay pipes
The remarkable interest in portraits in nineteenth-century French stemmed clay pipes

French stub stemmed pipes
The clay pipe with separate wooden stem featuring amusing and especially lifelike portraits

Ceramic tobacco pipes
The most wonderful smoking pipes in recognizable but also unknown types of ceramics

Porcelain figural pipes
Collector's items from the most exclusive to rather kitsch, wide variety in porcelain pipe design

Posh stummels
Beautiful miniature paintings on typical German porcelain pipes with an oval bowl shape

Stummels for everyone
Swift sketches or coloured transfer prints on pipe bowls made in German porcelain

Large sizes in meerschaum
The early meerschaum pipes, large and luxurious with their carvings and silver fittings

Meerschaum cigar holders
Artificial and fairly feminine works of art with carvings made in brittle meerschaum

Early wooden pipes
Smoking pipes in different woods, from charming cottage industry to true works of art

Carved figural pipes
Beautiful portrait pipes carved in briar wood and made between 1850 and 1950

Briars classic or queer
The wooden pipe as we know it, but also the more original examples that are out of the ordinary

Modern briars
Striking and admirable post-war pipe designs in briar wood, some for use, others too fancy

Unexpected materials
A surprising category: pipes made of glass, silver, stag horn, shell or even plastic

Equipment from West Africa
The well-developed smoking culture in Ghana, Mali, Nigeria and Burkina Faso

Variations from Congo
So many tribes, so many original types of smoking pipes of Central African origin

Grasslands of Cameroon
Pipes from Cameroon are impressive, showing masks or geometric decorations

South Africa
A wonderful mix of influences from Europe as well as from unexpected local traditions

Japanese kiserus
The tobacco pipe in Japan is small and extremely refined, often acting as a status symbol

Smoking pipes from Asia
From Persia to the Philippines, each nation developed its own and original pipe design

Opium and opium taking
A Chinese custom with special pipes, together with unexpected and most wonderful paraphernalia

Hookahs or hubble-bubble
The mystery of the hookah in many forms from the Middle East and other regions

Making clay pipes
The pipe maker's craft explained by means of old photos of Gouda workshops

Pipemaker's tools
A choice of the many specialist tools used in the production of clay tobacco pipes

Covers on meerschaum pipes
Masterpieces of silversmithing applied to the luxurious meerschaum tobacco pipe

Lids on porcelain pipes
On porcelain pipes the lid is more often a serial item, although there are original exceptions

Lids on all kind of pipes
From simple brass-wire braided spark catchers to opulent decorative lids for tobacco pipes

Tampers and stoppers
The pipe smoker's hand tool for pressing the tobacco down and scraping out the pipe

Boxes for pipe tobacco
An overview of the tobacco box from the 17th century, in metal but also in other materials

Tobacco jars
Indispensable for the pipe smoker, the tobacco jar in varying shapes and different materials

Making fire and lighting
Before the invention of the match, lighting the pipe was an unexpected challenge

The pipe at rest
Where do you leave the pipe if you don't smoke? A variety of stands, racks and storage boxes

Snuff worldwide
Boxes and bottles, but also graters and pestles used in the global custom of snuff taking

European snuff boxes
The snuff box as a fashion accessory since the beginning of the eighteenth century

Smokers' prints Europe
The pipe smoker as the main motif in etchings, engravings and drawings from all times

Smokers' prints ethnographic
Pipe smoking in other cultures complete with typical and favorite smoking instruments

Store cards
Unexpected advertisements for the twentieth century pipe intended for the tobacconist shop

Tobacco vignettes
Simple print work for the packaging of cut tobacco with its typical symbolism and texts

Dutch cigar bags
Packaging for cigars to publicize the tobacconist with an attractive illustration

Box labels for cigars
Glamorous printed designs by cigar factories to brighten up the packaging box