Meerschaum From Greece

[topd]

I won this on eBay from a guy in Kefalonia, Greece. This is how it arrived...

And after clean-up...

I'm thinking it's from the 19th century or a little later. Any thoughts on what the little knob under the pipe is?

I have an idea... But it's only a theory.

 

[topd]

Yes, it is amber...
(You need to give us a class on meerschaum types Storient, that would be cool).

 

[tjameson]

Wow now thats patina 8O

 

[gwtwdbss]

Wow!

 

[photoman13]

Topd you really have a good eye for meer. I second that Storient should make an article that maybe Kevin would let you post here talking about the different kinds of meerschaum. I feel like it could only help your business as well. Maybe even help Kevin's as well.

 

[PeriqueMyInterest]

TopD, I might be a smart ass who doesn't really know what he is talking about but I would say that the foot on your pipe is just for style. There are a few theories on why they were placed on clays, from hanging on specialized racks to placing on tables when smoking, but on your pipe I would say it is to emulate a clay. Like a belge (a french shape named after the Belgian style of clay rather than the English - English had the foot and the Belgian didn't) the cutty is a shape made to emulate old clays. The cutty (which you have) emulates English clays.
And, that is a gorgeous pipe! I wouldn't care if it arrived covered in cow dung (I kind of would but nevertheless) I would cherish it!

 

[crk69]

Awesome looking piece of history there Top.. maybe the button is for sitting?? congrats....

 

[barkar]

Congrats

 

[topd]

Assaad, I think you are close. Sailors on wailing ships and such would cut a small hole near their

hammock, in a pole or beam and stick the little button in it so the pipe wouldn't roll around during

the night. I read that about old meerschaums and clays many years ago. I can only assume that it's true.

 

[frennchy11]

very nice patina! Nice clean up job too!

 

[PeriqueMyInterest]

TopD, I wonder if the many uses of the foot on pipes were just inventive uses that arose from something left over from the manufacturing process. I think that in mass producing the pipes they may have sometimes used molds that produced 2 pipes at once that were joined by the heel and then the spur was left when they were cut apart. I'm not sure though. I found this dissertation on clay pipes excavated in Jamaica. Scroll down to about pages 60-82 for images of bowl styles. I didn't know that there was such a large assortment of styles produced.

 

[bentmike]

Neat Pipe TopD. Nice job on the cleanup.

 

[cigrmaster]

Very cool piece of history Top. Hope it smokes as cool as it looks.