Interesting unbranded estate meerschaum

[sjohnston0311]

Here is an interesting estate meerschaum I received for Christmas. It is unbranded and has a screw in stem with stinger. I initially thought it to be pressed meerschaum, but after doing some research I actually think it might be African.

There are some cracks inside the chamber which I didn't notice until after smoking, but maybe I just didn't notice them at first. The chamber has somewhat of an odd geometry as well, as if a wider shallow chamber were drilled on top of a deeper, narrower one.

Seemed to smoke well though, except for the very perfumey ghost that I found unexpected and off putting even though I usually really like Lakelands. My guess is it might have been some sort of other Lakeland-esque blend such as Mixture 79 or something, which I've never had.

Anyone ever seen anything like this, and is it ok to smoke with the cracks in the chamber? I'm a meerschaum noobie so I'll take all the info I can get.

 

[cshubhra]

1. I think it’s a Turkish Meershaum. I have never seen a figural African Meerschaum like this (Bearded man / sultan )
2. I think it is a block meerschaum also going by the fact it is carved
3. I don’t know if the crack would compromise the pipe. Wait for someone else to chime in - I would have smoked the pipe as usual till the crack is filled up with cake.

 

[warren]

Not African and probably not pressed. It appears to be a run of the mill Sultan/Emeer/potentate/etc., not intricately carved.

The defect in the bowl? Maybe the meerschaum formed around some foreign object which was loosened and fell out when the bowl was drilled. It just doesn't appear to be a crack, too wide and the ends do not appear to taper like a crack would. But, that's just a guess based on the photo.

Per above, smoke it, the defect will fill with residues.

 

[sjohnston0311]

Ok thanks for the info. Glad to hear I can probably keep smoking it without it falling apart on me.