Silver Eskimos
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well I guess he's got to sit somewhere and like most of us he probably sits where he's at instead of going on a journey. Though the more things change the more they stay the same, and I wouldn't be surprised if there was some connection to current at the time events. Maybe some in the news Artic exploration thing.
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I think there's more to it than what we can see in your photos. Clear close-ups of the rim man, and the man at the shank, where we can see the details of what he's sitting on, might give us additional thoughts about this.
I am tempted to think that such design elements would be indicative of a pipe that is made of tusk/bone from some type of marine mammal, rather than actual meerschaum. Chance would be a fine thing.
Perhaps that is nothing more than fanciful thinking on my part and the pipe is simply an
Eskimo themed meerschaum.
Perhaps that is nothing more than fanciful thinking on my part and the pipe is simply an
Eskimo themed meerschaum.
Around 1910-20 they put all sorts of wild designs on those silver rims.
It looks exactly like meerschaum and it says 'meerschaum' on the inside of the case.
Are those gee-gaws integral to the pipe, or stuck on. Esp. the band- is it over an existing band?
The Eskimos look applied after the pipe was made to me, but let's ask our resident jeweler for a more informed opinion. @cosmicfolklore
Agreed.
But to o.p., can you post close up of all sides of the medallion on the shank?
Does the stem fit properly to the shank? By the one picture, it looks off.
But to o.p., can you post close up of all sides of the medallion on the shank?
Does the stem fit properly to the shank? By the one picture, it looks off.
Not uncommon - I have a couple with a metal rim that is a different color metal from the ornaments.
Here's one of mine:
Could this simply have been whimsical nonsense on the part of the maker? To quote John Lennon's comment about the "meaning" of I Am The Walrus, I envision the craftsman who created this one smiling and thinking to himself, "Let the f****** work that one out, Pete!" 
I studied mine carefully, and something along the lines of "whimsical nonsense" is all that I could come up with. That eskimo thing seems like it might have some meaning, but I'd still like to see detailed pics;otherwise, we're not getting any closer to helping the OP.Could this simply have been whimsical nonsense on the part of the maker? To quote John Lennon's comment about the "meaning" of I Am The Walrus, I envision the craftsman who created this one smiling and thinking to himself, "Let the f****** work that one out, Pete!"
Interesting. Thanks for adding some context.Not uncommon - I have a couple with a metal rim that is a different color metal from the ornaments.
Here's one of mine:
If when you smoke it, it has a taste of dead animal, it’s bone. If it has the smell of burning hair, it’s tusk or ivory. I had to cut up some ivory for a customer once, and the saw heated the material and everyone had to evacuate my store, ha ha. One customer was a fireman and he told me that it triggered having to pull burned bodies out of a fire. To me it smelled like burnt hair. I was going to make a pipe from bone, but heated, it was awful, like rotted corpse. I did make a stem from the bone, but it was so porous that it turned dark brown with sticky tar. Nasty stuff.
I’m not sure what metal the figure is made of on the brass. With the focus of the picture, it looks like it is pressed lead or epoxy, but it’s most likely pewter.
As for it being an Eskimo or Inuit, they are on top of the world, geographically speaking, but other than that, I have no idea.
It’s a beautiful pipe though. I hope it’s meerschaum.
May it bring you many fine smokes.
I’m not sure what metal the figure is made of on the brass. With the focus of the picture, it looks like it is pressed lead or epoxy, but it’s most likely pewter.
As for it being an Eskimo or Inuit, they are on top of the world, geographically speaking, but other than that, I have no idea.
It’s a beautiful pipe though. I hope it’s meerschaum.
May it bring you many fine smokes.
What the hell were they thinking?
Thank God they decided to move the calendar forward every year, or we’d all still be whisling Scott Joplin tunes and smoking pipes with 1Q-infused Inuits on them!
I can think of a lot of people that should be pretty damned close to the fire…for eternity.