Thorny old meerschaum query.

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mawnansmiff

Lifer
Oct 14, 2015
7,385
7,295
Sunny Cornwall, UK.
Hello folks, I wonder if anyone out there can give me any info on the below pipe. It came to me in a collection via Ebay.
The pipe looks pretty old (19th c. perhaps?), has a silver band which has no markings plus what I am sure is a bone stem with orifice button. What is unusual is the design of the pipe or more particularly the 'thorns' on it of which there are 9 in total. Were they for heat dissipation or just decoration. As it happens the pipe does 'sit' due to the thorns on the bottom though it sits a tad skew whiff.
The pipe is 5"/13mm long.
Any advice would be most welcome.
10-2-600x450.jpg

311-600x450.jpg

71-600x450.jpg

61-600x450.jpg

9-2-600x450.jpg

Regards,
Jay.

 

grue

Starting to Get Obsessed
Feb 9, 2016
199
0
I have no information but I think it's gorgeous! Great find mawnansmiff!

 

xrundog

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 23, 2014
737
1
Ames, IA
Those come up on eBay now and then. Your guess on the era is right. Possibly bone stem I guess. Horn was the more popular material though. I feel like the "thorns" are mimicking something. But I'm not sure what.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
I guess the thorns are decorative. I don't think this is a technological design with heat dissipation in mind. I know no meerschaum history, but I'd suspect this was carved in Turkey, not Europe, so the design may refer to some plant or geometric theme from there. It's a really unique piece. That one, I don't know if I'd smoke; it's more of a collector's piece to my eye. Or maybe on ceremonial occasions -- call this the first days of spring.

 

mawnansmiff

Lifer
Oct 14, 2015
7,385
7,295
Sunny Cornwall, UK.
Thanks folks. MSO, I have no intention of smoking it due to the bone stem. I have tried cleaning it but that just resulted in shining up all the muck & stains that are on there :crying:
One to stick in the drawer and forget about methinks.
Regards,
Jay.

 
Jan 8, 2013
7,493
733
I saw a few similar pipes on ebay a while back. They were labeled as late 1800s and early 1900s made meers. Looks like you got something quite nice. :)

 

condorlover1

Lifer
Dec 22, 2013
7,993
26,606
New York
Here is one like it I sold to a friend of mine on here about a year ago. The spike design is modeled on a popular style of club or walking stick and the thorns made it easier to hold the pipe when it got hot. The style is often seen on clay pipes and the meerschaum versions show up on Ebay quite often. They were made in Austria and the more bulbous examples come from a couple of Parisian carvers from the late 19th century.
IMG_0056_zps94daf4db.jpg


 
Jan 8, 2013
7,493
733
As to my above post, I found a similar clay pipe that is early 1800s here... http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Clay-Pipe-Thorny-Wood-Design-Early-1800s-Era-/150809655366?hash=item231cf4b846:m:mkRvaJrmKuwhKIFQUW5LMEA So.... who knows?

 

condorlover1

Lifer
Dec 22, 2013
7,993
26,606
New York
Pollocks clay pipe made by John Pollock of Stott Street, Manchester. You must have been digging in my late Mothers garden as I used to toss my broken examples onto the flower bed! :rofl:

 

mawnansmiff

Lifer
Oct 14, 2015
7,385
7,295
Sunny Cornwall, UK.
Condorlover, your pipe or rather your bowl looks identical to what I have here. Might I be so bold as to ask what yours sold for? By all means reply via PM if you would rather. It would be handy for me to have a price in mind should I ever get around to selling though granted mine is sans case.
Regards,
Jay.
PS:Am a huge fan of Condor myself, am actually enjoying a bowl of long cut as I write :puffy:

 

mawnansmiff

Lifer
Oct 14, 2015
7,385
7,295
Sunny Cornwall, UK.
One thing just occurred to me regards my bone stem. As it has a slight bend to it I wondered how it might have been drilled and the only conclusion I could come up with was that it was perhaps drilled from either end and the drillings met up somewhere in the middle. Does this sound right?
Regards,
Jay.

 
K

klause

Guest
Jay,
I might be wrong on this, but, I don't think that's the original stem. I have a few of these pipes, in various sizes, and, in all cases, the stem is a continuation of the graceful curve and lines of the shank and silver fitting. I've never seen one that has a round-ish stem fitted to that oval-ish shank.
I'm happy to stand corrected.
If it was me, I'd clean it up, and fire it up - they smoke great.

 

mawnansmiff

Lifer
Oct 14, 2015
7,385
7,295
Sunny Cornwall, UK.
Klause, very interesting observation. It is indeed an oval shank & round stem, the spare 'space' at the junction by the silver band is taken up by some sort of cement and the stem is fixed in place.
Also, a standard pipe cleaner will only go in as far as the junction. There is draw (tested by blowing into the bowl) but it seems to be very restricted, another reason for not firing it up. I did try inserting a straightened paperclip but it too only went in as far as the junction.
Perhaps it was someone's favourite smoker so when it got damaged they instigated the repair to continue enjoying the pipe?
Either way I think its a 'survivor' of a bygone age and as such ought to perhaps belong to someone who appreciates this kind of pipe. If anyone reading this would like to own it then by all means PM me (hope I haven't broken any house rules in saying that).
Regards,
Jay.

 

pitchfork

Lifer
May 25, 2012
4,030
605
One thing just occurred to me regards my bone stem. As it has a slight bend to it I wondered how it might have been drilled and the only conclusion I could come up with was that it was perhaps drilled from either end and the drillings met up somewhere in the middle.
Great question! Until you mentioned your horn stem, I had never thought about it before, but there are loads of bent amber stems on pipes from this era -- but how were they drilled?

 

pitchfork

Lifer
May 25, 2012
4,030
605
Maybe this is the part of the answer (Pipedia):
The [amber] stems were carved by hand from fossilized tree resin, at which point they could be bent only after heating in oil and over an alcohol flame.

 

pitchfork

Lifer
May 25, 2012
4,030
605
Well, I guess I answered my own question...
Apparently heating finished stems in oil and bending them to the desired shape was standard practice. Steve Laug writes extensively about the process of shaping and bending amber stems here:
https://rebornpipes.com/2013/02/23/what-is-the-amber-used-in-pipe-stems-and-how-are-they-bent/

 

mawnansmiff

Lifer
Oct 14, 2015
7,385
7,295
Sunny Cornwall, UK.
UPDATE: I have just had a closer look at the pipe and decided to attempt to improve the stem. I started to lightly sand it with 3000 grit and have concluded that it is more likely clay and not bone as I initially thought.
This being so, I half filled the bowl with some Mellow Virginia and fired it up. Unfortunately the restricted draw made for difficult if impossible smoking. Ah well, nothing ventured nothing gained :cry:
Regards,
Jay.

 
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