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Meerschaum is found in a handful of places around the world, but the most famous source for the stone is in and around the city of Eskisehir in western Turkey. A porous mineral, meerschaum is soft enough to be carved but hard enough to be polished, revealing the incredible skill of the artisans who began making pipes out of the material in the 18th century. By the late 19th century, an ornately carved meerschaum pipe or cheroot holder was a status symbol for the men who smoked them in their clubs and book-lined studies. But by the end of World War I, fancy meerschaum pipes had been superseded by the clean, geometric look that would become Art Deco.
During its heyday, from roughly the 1870s to the 1920s, pipe makers in Hungary and other Eastern European countries, many of whom were Jews who passed their trade from son to son, transformed blank blocks of white meerschaum into everything from the heads of figures from history and literature to angels in repose and hunters on horseback. Cheroot holders, which have smaller bowls than full pipes, feature some of the most intricate carvings, while cylindrical cigar holders are less detailed due to their small surface area. Some of the most popular subjects of antique meerschaum include depictions of leaders such as Napoleon, knights and noblemen, and sailors, who often appear inebriated, sometimes clutching a bottle as they lean against the pipe's bowl.
Beyond the appeal of their decorations, meerschaum pipes are popular with smokers for the quality of the smoking experience they produce. Unlike pipes made of briar root or cherr...
Today meerschaum is not allowed to be exported from Turkey in its raw, block form, which has spurred new generations of carvers there. In many cases, the characters and subjects of contemporary carved meerschaum are positioned between the bowl, which is often left unadorned, and the end of the pipe's stem. Other styles emulate the classical saxophone shape of a large carved bowl attached to a stem that angles up to meet the smoker's mouth. The pipes are considered handsome enough, but in general, the details on contemporary pipes are less ornate and more formulaic than those on their forebears.
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Clubs & Associations: Tobacciana
- North American Society of Pipe Collectors
- The Cigarette Pack Collectors' Association
- On The Lighter Side
- The Cigarette Packet Collectors Club of Great Britain
- The Rathkamp Matchcover Society
Other Great Reference Sites: Tobacciana
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Antique Meerschaum Pipe, Highly Detailed Skull/ Yorick Complete
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Meerschaum-cao-beckler-eggshell Autographed Pipe
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Vintage Dark Meerschaum Carved Eagle Claw Pipe
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Tobacco Pipe - Meerschaum Style- With Case - Sultan Mehmet
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Antique Figural Meerschaum Pipe - Cased - Silver Collar + Amber Stem - 4 " Lady
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Peterson Rustic Meerschaum In First Class Condition
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Recent News: Meerschaum Pipes
Source: Google News
Museums put oddball objects on show
The Guardian, May 21stThe Wellcome collection has dug out a cigar holder carved in 1864 from meerschaum clay, which was commonly used for making pipes. It shows in detail the coronation procession of Ludwig II. He became famed for his increasingly extravagant building...Read more
Smoke-Free Law Spokesperson Will Speak to Chamber
The Missourian, May 16thSince the law was passed, the council has made some changes, including allowing smoking, for demonstration purposes only, in a designated area of the Missouri Meerschaum Corn Cob Pipe factory. The council also amended the distance that smokers...Read more
Istanbul 2020: The shopping clusters of the city would be a tempation for ...
Sports Features Communications, May 15thEvery traditional Turkish craft is represented here, with carpets, jewelry, pottery, clothing, meerschaum pipes, leather goods, brassware, lamps, and much more on offer. Expect to bargain patiently to get a good deal—being in a hurry here is going to...Read more
Forsyth 'drug' paraphernalia sellers under new scrutiny
NorthFulton.com, May 7thThe law would exclude the sale of cigarette papers, wrappers, blunt wraps and "traditional tobacco pipes (such as brand names Briar and Meerschaum), holders, cigarette rolling machines or tobacco in any form whatsoever." A county resident said the fee...Read more
No More Fakelore: Revealing The Real Pennsylvania Dutch Cuisine
KUNC, May 6thEnlarge image. Credit Courtesy of University of Pennsylvania Press. Cabbage was, and still is, essential to Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine. This 1878 card caricatures a prosperous "Dutchman" with his meerschaum pipe and drumhead cabbage. Enlarge image...Read more
Rogue Philosopher, Great Communicator
New York Times (blog), May 2ndFor years, visitors to the Copenhagen City Museum wandered into a modest room that contains a few artifacts from the Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard's life: portraits, meerschaum pipes, first editions and, best of all, the desk where he stood and...Read more
Hair: The Short and Long of It
New York Times, May 1stThe one I went to was run by a guy who puffed a Meerschaum pipe full of some strawberry-flavored tobacco that made your eyes water. Often a girl was getting her hair done at the same time you were there. Sometimes the barber would use a blow dryer on...Read more
Florida 'Bong Ban' Passes, Doesn't Really Ban Bongs All That Much
Huffington Post, April 26thBut before passing, the bill was watered down to make it "unlawful for a person to knowingly and willfully sell or offer for sale at retail any drug paraphernalia... other than a pipe that is primarily made of briar, meerschaum, clay or corn cob...Read more