www.pijpenkabinet.nl - Pijpenkabinet Newsletter 7

Following our last Newsletter on the theme of opium, we return to the archaeology this time. Several new archaeological reports on clay tobacco pipe finds were produced in the meantime that provide you with new knowledge on this subject.
Especially - but not exclusively - for our Dutch readers we announce a special exchange program for this summer. The well-known booklet on Gouda pipe marks (1982) can now be exchanged for the magnificent volume (2003) of Duco's book on marks. A good reason for a visit to the museum in Amsterdam. Read more about this and other issues in this Newsletter.

Book exchange
The Pijpenkabinet is the most important and prolific provider of books on clay pipes, form Gouda, Holland and Europe. This is part of our policy to disseminate historical and practical information among diggers, detector-amateurs, archaeologists and collectors: it is the social responsibility of the museum.

In 1982 Don Duco listed all Gouda pipe stamps in his grey booklet Merken van Goudse pijpenmakers 1660-1940. After 20 years of additional research and with the help of the national reference collection of the Pijpenkabinet in Amsterdam, a new and largely extended version was published in 2003. The new book (30 x 30 centimetre) was published by the Pijpenkabinet Foundation and is called Merken en merkenrecht van de pijpenmakers in Gouda (Marks and ordinances of the Gouda pipe makers). The text is summarized in English in the back.

Over 1.000 pipe stamps are listed in all their varieties in more that 1.700 drawings. The marks are complete with the pipe maker's names and their period of activity. For a better understanding of the meaning of these marks, both for production and marketing, Duco described the development of the rights and regulations of the Gouda Pipe Maker's Guild issued over the decades. Soon after release, this huge volume of 2 kilograms was cited as 'the bible for clay pipe research' and 'the stone of Rosette' for dating pipefragments.

The Pijpenkabinet Foundation produced and published this book in order to promote the use of relevant, historical correct and useful information on the history of the pipe. For that reason we offer the new book for a discount price in exchange of the old version.

As you see, the original acquisition price of € 15 is refunded after 10 to 20 years. You never had such a value-for-money! The refund action runs up to October 1st 2007, actually only at the premises of the museum and Smokiana pipeshop. For foreign readers we extend the offer, but we will have to add the shipping costs as you will understand. Post an e-mail if you wish to use this special offer or just want to order the book: mailto:info@pijpenkabinet.nl

Pipe identification on demand
A regular task for the curator of the Pijpenkabinet is identifying excavated pipes for archaeologists. The work starts with an analysis of the found material: date, place of origin, maker. After this phase, interpretation follows: based on his specialised knowledge he comes up with interesting conclusions and interpretations of the site. Can you recognise any coherence in the pipes? Is there any link between the pipes and the location of the excavation? Are the pipes different from comparable sites? The answers will tell much more about the history, which is actually the final goal of archaeological research.

Because the clay pipe provides interesting information on the site and the users of the time, more and more archaeological services and commercial companies ask the Pijpenkabinet for assistance. Besides Dutch orders, Belgian archaeologists start to find out about this valuable service!

These reports are published on the Pijpenkabinet website for general information and use. Look in chapter 15 on archaeology of www.pijpenkabinet.nl, section museum. The series of archaeological reports is extended with the following titles:

On our website also some older and more recent articles are published now, free accessible for those who are interested. Unfortunately, we have not been able to make proper English translatins of these texts. All the pictures and a summary are posted at least. Those who feel the urge, are welcome to help us out with the translation problems.

The latter three articles are, among others, to be found in complete list of publications of Don Duco, chapter 19 of www.pijpenkabinet.nl, section museum.

English excavated pipes
The collection of the Pijpenkabinet consists of a large number of Dutch clay tobacco pipes. They serve the research purposes: the reference collection holds all possible variations for comparison. Recently an interesting and important group is added: the excavated pipes from the Dunhill collection, gathered by Alfred Dunhill in the early 20th century and published in his famous The Pipe Book (1924).

This collection consists of fragments form all over England, giving a survey of the local types and styles. Dunhill had a preference for stamped pipes, because they could be identified and linked to a maker. Different form the Dutch counterparts, the English pipes are rarely stamped. For that reason this group is valuable: 148 marked clay pipes are added now, mainly form the period 1600-1800.

Three examples are illustrated here: seventeenth century finds with the heel stamp PE, in some variation. It is the mark of Philip Edwards from Bristol (died c.1683), an important maker who even produced for exportation to America.

Two examples date from the 1670's and have, despite their common shape and size, slightly different marks. The third one is much smaller and - one could say - more old fashioned. It is a so-called miniature from the same period, meant for savouring a fine tobacco or just for a short smoke. Dunhill illustrates this type of pipe in 1924, in a rather sketchy drawing, so rather difficult to recognise. Now we have the original objects at hand and even in variation, giving much more information than just the drawing. At Dunhill's time the maker was not known yet; in later years information from the archives unveiled his name.

A sideline for pipe makers
Pipe clay - or ball clay - was used in the ceramic industry even before pipe makers started producing their pipes. During the Middle Ages small statuettes were made out of the white baking 'pipe clay'. Possibly the old statue-printers provided the pipemakers of the fine clay at the very beginning. The Pijpenkabinet collection holds an important group of clay figurines, partly made as a sideline in pipemaking workshops. Most of these date from later periods in which we are fully aware of their provenance, names of makers, dating, etc. But the 17th and 18th century examples are much more difficult to identify to a maker, it is even hard to relate these to pipemakers. Statue makers are extremely rarely mentioned in the archives, but they do exist in Gouda at that time.

The illustrated figure depicts a standing man in wide trousers, a narrow shirt and a cap without a rim on his head. He holds a bucket, his leg is reinforced with a plant like ornament. The figure is pressed in a simple two-parted mould and as the illustrations shows is not really a full sculpture but more two dimensional. After baking the statuette has been embellished with red and black paint, of which traces survived.

Gouda could be a production place, according to the structure of the clay and in comparison with other finds from the same city. This statuette however was recently found in Haarlem and luckily kept in perfect condition! Never the less the modelling is very much like Gouda examples. It should date between 1720 and 1770.

Link of the month
This time a website from the United States, compiled by Byron Sudbury, is recommended. Sudbury is for more than thirty years a researcher on clay tobacco pipes. He was the first to describe the history of pipe producing including their products in the United States in his book titled Clay Tobacco Pipemakers in the United States of America (Oxford 1979). Unfortunate, not all the links on his website are up-to-date, nevertheless the site is a nice compilation of information on clay tobacco pipes.

Pipe smoking courses
This spring several evenings in the Pijpenkabinet main room proved to be very successful for those taking up pipe smoking. Individuals and groups of befriended youngsters were informed about the pleasures and practicalities of pipesmoking: filling the pipe, lighting, keeping the tobacco burning. The experienced specialist explained the types of tobacco, the pipe shapes the care of the pipe. The pupils enjoyed the one-evening course and returned enthusiastically, both to Smokiana pipeshop and some of them also to the first open evening for pipesmokers organised by the Amsterdam Pipe Smoking Society in a traditional beer pub in the Dutch capital on the 11th of June 2007.

The evenings start at 20 p.m. and last about two hours. After the lessons there is time for a drink, a talk and of course a smoke.

Book review
Shortly after publication of an article on system pipes on our website (§ 19 Pijpenkabinet-complete literature list) we got an enthusiastic e-mail from the US. Kathy Worth proved to be the grand daughter of the man who made the Falcon pipe sell worldwide. Being an author herself she wrote a paperback book entitled Back from the Ashes, Uncovering the Lost History of G.L. Hunt and the Falcon Pipe. As in a detective novel she described her search in the old paper files of her grandfather, unveiling piece by piece the unknown history of the Falcon pipe, a fascinating history of a 20th-century classic. For those who have interest: the book can be ordered at publisher@worthyworkspress.com.

End of this seventh 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/

Pijpenkabinet Museum & Smokiana pipe shop
Prinsengracht 488, 1017 KH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Phone: +31 (0)20 42 11 779
Opening hours: Wednesday-Saturday 12 - 18 hrs.
E-mail: mailto:info@pijpenkabinet.nl
www.pijpenkabinet.nl