Exclusive stone with a complicated stem

novembre 2010

No doubt that this exceptional tobacco pipe with its attractive red-marbled stone pipe bowl, embodies luxury, except for those who have a mere eye for smoking comfort. Natural stone is not the best material for making smoking pipes. It absorbs heat poorly and there is no question of moisture absorption. In addition, stone has a largeweight so that holding a stone pipe between the teeth is not an option. Fortunately, the total materialization of this pipe compensates for these user-unfriendly properties. The stone is beautifully polished and the bowl opening is provided with a decorative hinged cover. Particularly noteworthy is the stem that starts with a spherical silver moisture trap, which acts as a drip reservoir and absorbs nicotine juice and condensation. The stem itself is made from a real hare bone that does have some porosity so that the last moisture is absorbed therein. Breathtaking is the mounting of the stem which is attractively encased in silver, whereby a pipe-cleaner shaped as a sword has been included along the stem. The short mouthpiece is made of dark buffalo horn. The shape of the pipe bowl clearly derived from the German stummel, that in its turn goes back to the Gouda clay pipe. In this case a familiar shape was chosen for a product with an exceptionally posh appearance.

Amsterdam Pipe Museum APM 20.368

Archives des objets du mois