Carefully repaired tobacco pipe

septembre 2017

This meerschaum tobacco pipe has the shape of the popular pipes from the German town of Ulm, known under the name Ulmer Kloben. Characteristic is a cylindrical pipe bowl surrounded by an edge or spine that extends from the front of the bowl to the bottom of the stem at the cuff. Already conceived in the eighteenth century, this model remained popular until the end of the nineteenth century. The same wood shapes are also simulated in other materials, such as the example in meerschaum we present now. The silver hall mark stamped in the lid ring betrays the year in which this pipe came into existence: 1840. In that period, the heyday of the Ulmer pipe was just over, but production continued unabated. The owner of this pipe was Friedrich von Pelser Berensberg, who received the pipe at the age of 25 and kept it until his death. After he died in 1883, the heirs refurbished the pipe. Then a silver band was placed around the bowl with an engraving of the family crest and an inscription, which happened more than forty years after the manufacture of this pipe. The silver band was primarily used to camouflage a crack in the bowl, but also to turn it into a commemorative piece. At the same time, a new stem including a fresh locking cord was added. We don't know who the second generation smoker was, his son, grandson or other family member? The family crest certainly indicates that the pipe remained in use in the family. Most curious and unusual about this object is the fact that the pipe was passed on to a second generation, which occasion was recorded in silver engraving.

Amsterdam Pipe Museum APM 22.326