Given a white pipe

[essy]

Hi all,
New to the forum, I've been smoking for a few years now. I was given this pipe from a friend. It's in pretty good shape, all though the top of the bowl is burnt a little (is there any way to get rid of that?) The inside of the bowl is in good shape as is the stem and lip.
I have no idea what it is, or if it was made by anyone, or where, and I'm wondering if anyone can give me any insight on it.

 

[teufelhund]

Welcome to the forums. It looks like a carved Meerschaum pipe. As far as burn marks I recommend a little spit and some elbow grease. These pipes can color nicely from smoking them I wouldn't want to get any chemicals near them. There are tons of threads on meerschaum care just look around the forums.

 

[petes03]

That's a Meershaum my friend! It's carved from Turkish or African block. My guess is Turkish. The rim darkening is normal so don't worry about it. Always keep the bowl free of cake and never use alcohol in it or on it, other than that you're good to go! Welcome to the forum!

 

[essy]

Hey thanks! The bowl is pretty clear as it is. No alcohol? I generally wet my pipe cleaners with whiskey when I clean it. Will it damage this type of wood?

 

[petes03]

Meershaum is not wood, it's a mineral, like stone. And yes, alcohol has very negative effects on meershaum. Sorry I couldn't help with the maker!

 

[essy]

All good. There's no markings on it to indicate the maker so that would make it fairly difficult I'd imagine haha. Okay, no alcohol. Thanks. Thanks for all your help guys! Was a neat find, just gotta clean it up a bit.

 

[mso489]

Good of your friend to pass this Meerschaum along. It's a nice pipe.

 

[cortezattic]

Welcome to the forums. Please notice that Petes03's advice has two parts:

keep the bowl free of cake and never use alcohol

Meerschaums take a long time to color, but yours should color nicely. It should progress more or less like this: