Meerschaum Already Colored but Unsmoked

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Mar 2, 2021
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Alabama USA
Turkey produces the world's best meerschaum. These are generally white, but can come pre-coloured. Sometimes an unbleached wax finish is applied which results in yellow/honey tones.

African meerschaum (from now closed mines in Tanganyika) is poorer quality and because it is rarely pristine white, are usually precoloured.

I have a few African meers which I like be caused they are more robust and stand up to less gentle handling.

An example of a well-coloured 1896 meerschaum cutty. The stem is a replacement
View attachment 122055
Beautiful !!:)
 

jonasclark

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 4, 2013
738
384
Seattle
I don't mind helping newbies. Sometimes reading Google gives you a lot of conflicting information. There's a lot of BS out there. We've got the straight skinny over here.

Yes, as far as new pipes, everything you see is Turkish (the African mines are closed) and nearly all is block. Pressed or chip meerschaum is really only used any more for cheap mini pipes and for calabash bowl inserts, though some of the latter are again being produced in block (any calabash bowls you see that are carved are likely to be block). Some makers use unbleached beeswax, which colors the pipe an even, all-over golden yellow; these will "color" like a normal meerschaum. A few, such as Sadik Yanik, also make some pipes with dark red-colored wax. Any of the major meerschaum pipe websites will sell good pipes, and many eBay and Etsy sellers have good work too; Yanik's main sales are via eBay.
 
Jun 23, 2019
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12,758
Also the snippets of information on Charatan and Upshall imparted by the late Ken Barnes are gold. I would say impossible to find outside of the Forums.

Ah, I see now from your line of thinking my OP was probably too much implicit rather than being explicit with what I meant. I don't disagree there, as a matter of fact, I agree wholeheartedly. But those also aren't the thread I'm talking about either.
 
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jonasclark

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 4, 2013
738
384
Seattle
Which DO you mean? No matter the question, I'd rather they ask here and get a consensus than ask Google and get twenty conflicting answers.
 
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aspiring_sage

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 7, 2021
556
1,945
West of the Twin Cities, MN
The Barling meerschaum pipes were stained with a wonderful mix of two colors , one I do not recall and the other being ox blood red. The stain was then burned in with an alcohol lamp.
….
I kick myself for accidentily not saving the article :(
This post mentions a book “tobaccoland” p 416. A google search makes it appear in the public domain. It has fairly comprehensive directions in two pages for dying a meer.
ingredients listed include:
  • Analine dyes
  • Ox blood
  • Sudan brown
 
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