Tobacco pipe with meerschaum bowl

Tobacco pipe with meerschaum bowl is held by Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe (Germany). Description supplied by the holding institution: Tobacco pipe with large bowl made of meerschaum (sepiolite).

Meerschaum is distinguished from wood as a material for the manufacture of tobacco pipes by being fireproof and neutral in taste. The porous structure of sepiolite can better absorb the condensate produced during smoking. Because of these characteristics, meerschaum pipes were—and are—often more expensive than wooden pipes. They were elaborately carved, decorated, and not infrequently custom-made for their owner. The smoking accessory thus became a status symbol.

Meerschaum pipe bowls are carved from a block of the material, as is the monogram. This is so skillfully intertwined that the individual letters cannot be identified with certainty; one can recognize a P, an S, but also a B or C. A silver-colored metal lid, ornamentally decorated, is attached to the bowl. On it are two marks, "SF" and a small woman's head—probably a French… The collection record gives measurements height: 10.0 cm.

Published through Europeana; how far this object represents a wider collectible type has not yet been independently verified.