Pipes as collectibles

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BCF

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 23, 2022
669
10,269
Pennsylvania
I know someone who is a rabid anti-smoker, but he collects antique meerschaums. On the other hand I also know someone who collects early Colt .45s, but he has never shot anyone. It's a crazy world. cray
I have a friend with a rack of Winchesters behind glass. He's never put a round through a single one. That's his thing, he's a collector. I couldn't do it, but whatever floats the boat, I guess.
 
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@cosmicfolklore didn’t your friend who ran the briary not smoke pipes? (That sentence reads poorly, but hey, that’s kiwi English)
Yes, true. I’ve also met a kid in The Briary who was “on spectrum” whose parents bought him pipes. At the time he was maybe 12 years old, and he was a walking encyclopedia of everything about pipes and pipe companies, how they’re made. It was amazing how much that kid knew.
 

SBC

Lifer
Oct 6, 2021
1,526
7,271
NE Wisconsin
Dayton Matlick, owner and publisher of Pipes & Tobaccos magazine, wasn’t a pipesmoker (or any kind of smoker), yet he spent years in the industry. I believe he collected high-grade pipes.


"He loved pipes, and he put together an impressive collection, but he was not himself a smoker. The art, engineering, traditions, community, and culture of pipes were his attractions.

That's not to say that Dayton couldn't smoke a pipe. Intellectually, he knew the techniques of pipe smoking very well. Still, he smoked a pipe only once, sitting in my office sometime around 2010. He had meticulously accumulated a large collection of unsmoked artisan pipes, mainly Danish, and they were each spectacular, but for this smoking session, he chose a Dr. Grabow so he could keep his more valuable pieces pristine. I think that was because his primary interest in collecting was the artfulness of pipes.

He wanted me to observe and make sure he was doing everything correctly as he translated his wide theoretical knowledge into the act of smoking. He was perfect. He loaded and lit and tamped that bowl as if he'd been doing it for years and smoked it to the heel with only a rhetorical question or two. He said he enjoyed the experience, but that was his first and last bowl. It neither accelerated nor slowed his own collecting, and although he never became a smoker, he was definitely a pipe man."
 

RonM

Lurker
Mar 6, 2023
21
85
Interesting stuff. Thanks for all the feedback. I suspected it wasn't unheard of since I know gun collectors who have never fired a weapon (as people here have noted). But I was just curious if anyone had run across such folks.
 
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Apr 26, 2012
3,383
5,631
Washington State
I would think it's more common with meerschaum pipes, as most of them are carvings of a scene, portrait, animal, etc., and are easily recognizable as art to non-pipe smokers and pipe smokers alike. I'm aware that there are some people that just collect briar pipes, such as Dunhill. I don't know anyone, but the internet says it's true. ;)
 

anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
15,836
29,675
45
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
I would think it's more common with meerschaum pipes, as most of them are carvings of a scene, portrait, animal, etc., and are easily recognizable as art to non-pipe smokers and pipe smokers alike. I'm aware that there are some people that just collect briar pipes, such as Dunhill. I don't know anyone, but the internet says it's true. ;)
technically anything is collectable. But with pipes I think you're generally correct. A few brands and meers. Basically it's got to be of note and something that you can't really just get easily.
 

Zamora

Can't Leave
Mar 15, 2023
378
987
Olympia, Washington
I started smoking pipes in January, starting off with a cob. Since then I've purchased two more pipes, an estate Beruken bent sitter and a mini Paykoc. There's more I have my eyes on, but I really need control myself. That's not to say that I don't want to become a collector, I just need to slow my cadence in buying pipes a bit. My interest in in smoking first and formost, and why I need to control how many I buy is because I don't want more than I can realistically get much use out of. I only want ones I can use often.
 
Last edited:

Zamora

Can't Leave
Mar 15, 2023
378
987
Olympia, Washington
Yes, true. I’ve also met a kid in The Briary who was “on spectrum” whose parents bought him pipes. At the time he was maybe 12 years old, and he was a walking encyclopedia of everything about pipes and pipe companies, how they’re made. It was amazing how much that kid knew.
That's amazing, I'm glad his parents support his passion especially because he can eventually pursue a career in pipes. I wonder if he'll take up smoking when he's old enough.
I would think it's more common with meerschaum pipes, as most of them are carvings of a scene, portrait, animal, etc., and are easily recognizable as art to non-pipe smokers and pipe smokers alike. I'm aware that there are some people that just collect briar pipes, such as Dunhill. I don't know anyone, but the internet says it's true. ;)
Not smoking a meer would be madness to me, the patinas they develop are so gorgeous. Of course many people who don't smoke might have no idea they color with use, many probably assume they're bone or ivory. There are some massive meers that I can see not smoking because they're too big to wield and would take far too many smokes to adequately color.
 
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Nov 20, 2022
2,179
21,148
Wisconsin
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If you don't / didn't smoke pipes, you would probably see them as smelly awkward shaped expensive useless items. Any collector would have to have some association with pipe smoking to even consider a collection. It is certainly not something to do for an investment.

I can't imagine some old lady showing off her pipe collection to the church group :ROFLMAO:
 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,448
109,412
I think its going to look great when you get it colored. That is an amazing pipe.
Mostly colored now. Was surprised how quickly it did.

20200911_021401.jpg

Chasing Embers,

I'm quite surprised you said that.
That pipe is one of the best colored meerschaums I've seen.
The coloring compliments the skull shape in a fantastic way, adding depth and detail.
Being a collector of momento mori, the coloration obscures some of the detail of the carving. As much as I like watching a meerschaum color, that one is a bit of a regret. If Kenan ever puts out another like it, it'll be display only.
 
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J. B. Deller

Might Stick Around
Mar 17, 2023
52
87
This question has probably been asked here before, but I'll ask it again since I'm new. Does anyone know of people -- or have you ever heard of anyone -- who doesn't smoke pipes but just collects them? I ask because pipes can be real works of art, not all but many are. I can see where some might just like them on the shelf or in a cabinet as display pieces in a man cave or whatever. I, in fact, have a few pipes that have never been smoked and probably never will be. Anyway, just a question that comes to mind sometimes as I'm looking at my pipes deciding which one to use.
I just started collecting about a week or so ago. I’m in full agreement about pipes being like little works of art. I have a nice Estate Savinelli that is the gem of the collection.
 

Sethology12

Might Stick Around
Jan 27, 2023
81
149
Richmond, Va

"He loved pipes, and he put together an impressive collection, but he was not himself a smoker. The art, engineering, traditions, community, and culture of pipes were his attractions.

That's not to say that Dayton couldn't smoke a pipe. Intellectually, he knew the techniques of pipe smoking very well. Still, he smoked a pipe only once, sitting in my office sometime around 2010. He had meticulously accumulated a large collection of unsmoked artisan pipes, mainly Danish, and they were each spectacular, but for this smoking session, he chose a Dr. Grabow so he could keep his more valuable pieces pristine. I think that was because his primary interest in collecting was the artfulness of pipes.

He wanted me to observe and make sure he was doing everything correctly as he translated his wide theoretical knowledge into the act of smoking. He was perfect. He loaded and lit and tamped that bowl as if he'd been doing it for years and smoked it to the heel with only a rhetorical question or two. He said he enjoyed the experience, but that was his first and last bowl. It neither accelerated nor slowed his own collecting, and although he never became a smoker, he was definitely a pipe man."
This is insanity to me
 
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