After a hot summer, the hottest July in two hundred years and the wettest August, the autumn is arriving over Holland now. Time to focus on museum visits, hobbies at home, a quiet evening with a book and a good tasting pipe, whatever you like.
In this newsletter information and activities of the Pijpenkabinet in Amsterdam, some old news items and activities in the near future.

Publicity for tobacco museums in the Netherlands
A number of museums have collections on the field of pipes and tobacco. They all feel the negative effect of the world-wide anti-smoking lobby, both in the printed press and in visitors attention. It seemed time for some other action in order to stress the cultural value of these collections.

The Pijpenkabinet has taken the initiative to create a brochure for all tobacco museums in the Netherlands. There are ten of them, evenly spread over the country, that show all aspects of the tobacco culture: the plant, pipe tobacco, cigars, cigarettes and above all pipes, represented in all museums.

The brochure is made in three different versions, all with a strong image on the front. The inside enumerates all museums with their (web)address and specialities. For your information: they are also listed on the Pijpenkabinet website on § 20 (Links). With a distribution on 10 locations among an interested audience, the publicity will have its effect especially on the nine other venues.

At the back a short text encourage visitors to visit the other museums:
For ages, the Netherlands have played a notable role in the tobacco trade and culture. In the middle of the country tobacco plantations were numerous. Amsterdam had the lead in tobacco trade, world wide. The Gouda clay pipe was regarded the best smoking implement for over two centuries.
While tobacco itself vanishes into smoke, art and culture related to this use remains. Ten museums cherish and present this rich culture. You are welcome to visit them!”

Pipe smoking courses
Fall and winter are ideal for restarting our evenings for young, new and aspirant pipe smokers: our special courses in pipe smoking. Are you interested in the art of pipe smoking and never had anyone who could introduce you into the practicalities, or do you know other persons (man or woman) who might be interested? During the course the basics of enjoying pipe smoking will be explained. The way of filling a pipe, lighting and keeping the fire going in the fist place, but also the shapes of the pipes, the various tobaccos and the care of your pipe will be discussed. These instructive evenings take place in the perfect ambience of the Pijpenkabinet and are at the same time social gatherings where the participants get a feeling for the rich culture of pipe smoking in general.

On the following dates you could join our course in Amsterdam.
Thursday 2 November 2006
Wednesday 29 November 2006
Thursday 14 December 2006

The evening starts at 20:00 hrs (8 PM) and takes some two hours. Admission fee is 20,-.
Please send a mail including your date preference to: info@pijpenkabinet.nl

Publishing on internet
In the previous issue of the Newsletter we announced the renewal of our website. In the meantime again many changes and improvements have been made. At the home page the change in language (English-Dutch), which was not noted by many Dutch visitors, is now clearly indicated. The quality of the photographs has improved, and the number of pictures grew from 500 to over 750. Mainly the theme pages profited. These are separate pages, both in the ‘museum’ sector and in ‘pipe club’, showing a specific aspect of the Pijpenkabinet collection. Each normal page has a long row of thumbnail pictures at the right, now. Each of them is linked to a page behind. In the Pijpenkabinet Museum sector these pages show the various fields of collecting, such as pre-Columbian pipes, marks on Dutch clay pipes, briars, carved meerschaums, Cameroon, etc., illustrated with objects from our collections.

Within the Pipe Club section, focus is more towards the people, smokers looking for the right atmosphere, a cosy ambience and the pleasure of smoking together. Here, the row of thumbnails on every page is filled in with pipes smokers. Again, each one linked to a page showing a part of the Pijpenkabinet documentation, the paper collection: paintings, prints, cartoons, film stars, smokers of water pipes, opium smokers, etc.
In this way the richness and great variety of the collection of the Pijpenkabinet is shown and published. To be admired by all, even at a large distance form Amsterdam!

Another new item on the website is a series of links on paragraph 19 (in the Museum section), the list of literature written by Don Duco. Several of his articles appeared in specialist magazines or archaeological reports, which are difficult and costly to retrieve. In order to give better access to this kind of grey literature some of them are now published on our site.
Examples of articles to be found this way are: an article on the Gouda makers' mark Crowned L (2004) originally published in Clay Pipe Research (Vol 1, Bristol, 1988) now available in Dutch in an extended form.
Secondly an article about a special group of excavated clay pipes, as an example of the first generations of pipe smokers in Holland, in the first quarter of the seventeenth century, entitled Goudsche tabagie of gastvrij hoerehuijs.
And the third one is an article on Ashanti pipes, showing the trade relations in West-Africa that nourished the imports of pipes from various regions.

Exhibition
The Pijpenkabinet co-operated in the preparation and arranging of the exhibition “In rook vervlogen“ (Vanished in smoke) in a local museum in the village De Rijp, 30 kms north of Amsterdam. This active museum has a new and well-equipped exhibition hall, in which aspects of their own collection are shown in more depth. Clay pipes are the most regular finds around the village that flourished in the seventeenth century with herring fishing, whale oil cooking and trade. In the exhibition the Pijpenkabinet brought in the pipes, the technique of clay pipe making with photographs and a video showing the craft. Local collectors offered collections of clay pipes, Scottish snuff boxes and a nice set of tobacco jars.

The exhibition attracts quite a number of visitors from the region. The expo that was meant for August and September, is extended to the 19th of November 2006.

Acquisitions

Rembrandt pipe
On the occasion of the 400-anniversary of Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam organised a breakfast in its gardens. One of the attendees asked me whether we have a Rembrandt pipe. Knowing that Rembrandt was a non-smoker, it is unlikely that a personal pipe of his exists. At the other hand, the famous painter is depicted in pipes many times, both in porcelain painting, clay figuration and carved in meerschaum.

Just by coincidence, the very same evening of this breakfast, I was invited to The Hague to see a pipe collection that was offered for sale. And one of the items proved to be a splendid portrait pipe of our national painter. After some negotiations the pipe was ours. It is a cigar holder in meerschaum, carved with the bust of Rembrandt including his velvet hat, seen in the romantic way typical for the 1880-1920 period. A conical enlargement on top of his hat is meant to hold the cigar, just the way a cigar was smoked until the first World War and seen at thousands of pipes.

This pipe is a special one, not only for the quality of the carving, but also for its pedigree. The signature in the case says in a gold printed letter: "F. HINTZE KUNSTDRAAIER 'S HAGE" (F. Hintze, art turner in The Hague). Mr. Hintze is known form the archives as a talented meerschaum carver, originating in Germany. His daughter married in Holland Julius Richard Peukert. From 1906 onwards they had a shop in The Hague known as the “Pipe Palais”. After the death of her husband, the lady continued the trade, together with her son. In 1946 Jacobus van Oosten, one of her employees has taken over the business. Again it is his widow who continued, until 1969, when the shop was closed. The inventory was sold out and the remainders were taken over by another shopkeeper. It is this man who sold the Rembrandt pipe now to the Pijpenkabinet collection, which means that the full pedigree of this object from its creation till present day is known.
Amsterdam, Pijpenkabinet collections Pk 18.336.

Tuareg
The Tuareg are a nomadic tribe in the driest parts of Africa, the Sahara desert. While most of the African pipes are huge and massive, the Tuareg pipes are small and elegant. While travelling they load all their possessions on camels, so all utensils should be movable and lightweight. Their pipes are made out of metal: iron with some brass ornaments, in a specific shape. With a length of some 15 cms. the pipe has a thin stem, widening towards the end into a funnel shape bowl. The end is cut off at 45 degrees, which adds to the elegance of the overall design. This so-called tubular pipe has no clear distinction between bowl and stem part, except for the diameter growing towards the end.
The illustrated pipe is added recently to the Pijpenkabinet collection. It is 18 cms in length, made out of iron with a square brass plaque joint onto its surface. Some engravings in a zigzag, several concentric rings and some cross lines make the decoration. A simple form, a strong shape and scarce decoration make a pipe that is fully characteristic for its origin.
Amsterdam, Pijpenkabinet collections Pk 18.312.

Gifts to the museum

Link of the month
This issue the link to an American site with articles and different kinds of news for pipe smokers. Remarkable is the page discussing the various pipe tobaccos, although for those who do not live in the United States not very usefull because they are not available on the market. And for most Europeans not really according their taste. What would you think of Chocolate Mint, a truly delicious blend; mild, lightly sweet of Colombian Coffee with a very rich coffee and chocolate blend ?

Look for more information on The Pipe Smoker's Gazette
A site that calls themselves: The Pipe Smoker's On-Line Information and Entertainment Resource
Have a nice browse!

Smokiana pipeshop
The assortment of modern briar pipes of Smokiana pipeshop counts over 2,500 pipes and certainly this choice is the largest in the Netherlands. Nevertheless, this sales collection changes by the week. Since a few weeks Smokiana Pipeshop offers a new series of pipes from the Danish pipe maker Poul Winslow. This pipe creator works in the village Hvidovre in Denmark and his pipes are without exception made by hand. In general the designs are rather robust and the briar he uses is beautiful in grain and nice from quality. Also, stems are embellished with colourful acrylics and worked silver bands. From our newly stocked shapes two of them are illustrated here. The pipe on the top is inspired on the famous Danish freehands, although the execution is almost baroque. The items has a nice balance and a perfect straight upward grain. The other illustrations shows a unique invention with a disk type of bowl on a slightly bent stem, the lower part of the bowl rusticated.

However we do not do mail business, firstly because a pipe is an item to be touched and not being ordered from a photograph, we are willingly for those who have no change to visit us here in Amsterdam to help you with your questions by e-mail and see what we can do.

Just published
This time we would like to draw your attention on a publication from a country where the archaeology of the clay pipe is not that common: Switzerland. Although the white backing clay needed for the production is not available there, pipes and tobacco are imported since the seventeenth century from the Netherlands over the river Rhine. A number of 130 pipe fragments are found over the last years in the canton Zug. Eva Roth Heege wrote a well organised and substantial report on that for the Yearbook on antiquity. She studied all recent publications, referred to the five basic types of Duco’s handbook, and even used our most recent books on the Gouda marks and ‘Century of Change’. The all over impression is one of thorough study.

A special group of pipes she describes consists of funnel shaped pipes of red and grey clay. These are not moulded, but instead rolled by hand around a conical ‘Stopfereisen’. The conclusion is that these pipes are locally produced, since similar fragments are found in Southern Germany and the German part of Switzerland.

The article is an interesting addition to our international library.

Eva Roth Heege: Aus der Früzeit des Tabakrauchens; Tonpfeifen des 17.-19. Jahrhundert im Kanton Zug. Published in: Tugium, Jahrbuch des Amtes für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie (…), Band 22, 2006, p. 75-94.

End of the fifth Newsletter
Thank you for your interest and till the next issue !
We are happy to respond to any reactions or questions. Just click on mailto:info@pijpenkabinet .
Or continue on our web site http://www.pijpenkabinet.nl/

Benedict Goes
PR en Publicity Pijpenkabinet

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