Probably my favorite find is a nineteenth century ladies’ meerschaum that I found in an antique shop on Grand Cayman.
The $300+ that they were asking for it was more than I had ever spent on a pipe, but it is exquisite! No regrets!
I haven’t managed posting pictures to the chat yet, so I’ll just have to describe it.
It is meerschaum, nicely colored in from years of smoking, with an amber mouthpiece and a silver band separating them.
The case has an internal latch that you release by pushing a button and stamped inside in gold is a pair of gryphons rampant bracing a monogrammed shield with a crown on top of it.
It is the smallest and most delicate of all my meerschaums and the internal measurement of the bowl is only half an inch.
It’s unsigned and that’s a shame, because the quality of the carving would put even Yanik to shame as a fumble fingered idiot!
The shape of the pipe is the bust of a slender necked young lady with her hair piled high on top of her head, exposing a matched necklace and ear rings.
She’s wearing a ribboned straw hat on top of her hair and the very thin ribbons cascade from her hat’s brim to the pipestem below.
The straw hat is a masterwork in itself as you can see the weave and details of its’ construction.
That’s a pipe that could tell some stories!