With summer ahead and a significant less aggressive mood against smoking, the future seems a lot brighter than it appeared some months ago. This makes it easier to forget the bad news on global crisis and to seek distraction in clouds of smoke, thinking of the pleasures of pipe smoking and the rich culture of pipes. Nevertheless, on regular (and irregular) hours work goes on in the Pijpenkabinet, as you will read in the lines below.

Behind the scenes
Since the previous issues of this Newsletter, months of hard working have past in achieving results in the digitation project of the collection and documentation. Especially the technical part proves to be hard. The various incompatible sources are melted into a new network, but not without some trouble. The design of efficient applications on screen, both clear in appearance and practical in use, caused some lengthy discussions. It is unexpected to notice that each digitation project seems to show its own problems and that solutions found elsewhere can’t be applied in our situation. Fortunately the ICT experts we contracted are knowledgeable and reliable, they don’t give up.

For the internal organization the digitation project has had quite some effects: scanning of tens of thousands of documents such as articles, brochures, catalogues and so on implies that the order of the physical paperwork has to be all right. Of course, digitation means that the object can be shown virtually on screen, but for a museum the original object, even a piece of paper, still is an important asset. You want to retrieve it for research or exhibition. So, the order of the documentation in over 250 standard A4 size boxes is checked again and partly improved.

Apart from reshuffling and scanning of documents and files the regular museum work such as the public services continued. Many specialists found their way to the Prinsengracht in Amsterdam for questions on archaeological or historical finds, for advise or comments on their own research. Sometimes the kind of hospitality needed is challenged by the time pressure for other activities, but still we hope we can deliver the requested service. Fortunately we get regular feedback that our curator does answer questions very quickly because of his tremendous memory and knowledge.

Museum visits get the same positive feedback. Every visitor, locals and tourists, are welcomed with a personal guided tour in which people can ask questions and get more information on their subject of interest. Even with the extended use of multimedia in many museums our service towards the visitor is rare and highly appreciated.

Smokiana pipeshop is for obvious reasons dependent on fashion and trends. Last year, with the introduction of the smoking ban in pubs and restaurants in Holland, we experienced a decline in attention and turnover. By now everybody is used to the new situation, it is no longer an issue in the newspapers, so the interest for the pleasures of smoking is returning. The pipe with its image of tranquility, tradition and tasteful enjoyment gains a lot of attention. Especially the younger people are attracted again, we notice. For instance during the monthly courses pipe smoking the average age has dropped significantly. Altogether a positive sign.

Acquisitions
In many places around the world two types of pipes are known: the traditional smoking pipes and the water pipe. Even linguistically there is a main division, not known in our regions, for the dry and the wet pipe. Of course these are the warm and dry, dusty areas where the use of a water pipe for cooling and filtering the smoke is relevant. In this issue of the Newsletter we like to present three water pipes, recent acquisitions. They all originate from China, although their shape and appearance differs, making an interesting comparison.

The so-called opium pipe
This pipe can be called the most typical Chinese tobacco pipe, although in the antique trade always designated as opium pipe. In fact it is not only a pipe, but a complete smoking set. In a box or container various objects are incorporated. The most essential is the pipe with the long, bent pipe stem and a water reservoir at the bottom. The other, shorter tube is the pipe bowl, in fact a separate part that has a longer tube downwards, ending under the water level. This two-parted pipe fits into the container that holds on the other half the tobacco box, mostly cylindrical with a flat lid. In between two small holes hold the utensils, like the tongues and a needle combined with a brush on top. With a sting or chain the whole set can be attached to the belt of the user.

The material is pakton, an alloy of copper, nickel and zinc. The Chinese call it white copper, but when polished it has the shine of silver. The material is not very sensible to oxidation, but in the course of many years the shine vanishes. The metal is worked with great craftsmanship, especially the welded joints. After finishing the objects are generally engraved, especially on the surface of the container. Chinese landscapes are popular, in combination with characters that express poetic thoughts. This example has a décor of a pastoral scene, a girl with fan on one side, a man walking in an overwhelming landscape on the other side.

Many of these Chinese water pipes are signed, not by the maker but on request of the shopkeeper or trader who sold the pipe. Our example doesn’t have any signature. The fashion for these pipes emerges in the 1820’s and doesn’t disappear for a century. Thereafter production continues for the tourist market, even nowadays, although the craftsmanship is no more than a shadow of the past. In order to stimulate the sale the name of opium pipe has been introduced and is in current use now all over the world. But for sure, this very practical smoking instrument is not for anything else than smoking tobacco.

Amsterdam, Pijpenkabinet collections Pk 19.616

A remarkable pakton pipe
Next to the more current water pipe described above, a longer, self standing variety exists which is said to be developed earlier. This pipe, called pa-kong, is believed to date from the eighteenth century and continues to be produced into the twentieth century. These pipes are normally larger and more impressive than the water pipe in a container together with its tobacco box. Our example measures 55 cm. in height. This makes it a pipe to be smoked at home, so it has no point of suspension to attach it to the belt.

This pipe has been made of the same pakton alloy although the material is slightly greyer. More luxurious however is its engraving that goes all over the surface and shows fine flowers and leaves, alternated with some cranes and bats. The scene on the front of the water container is the most figurative: three standing Chinese and a girl with raised arms. The bottom holds an elaborate signature in Chinese characters. The signature shows sharper engravings than the decorations do, which raises the question that the decoration was possibly made by etching or hammering.

Although rare, also this water pipe is a serial product, according to literature made by the firm Chang-te-tai in Suchow. We date the pipe around 1900, but a few decades older is possible as well. The production of these objects was highly standardized and could continue unchanged for generations. It is a matter of experience to determinate the ag, but by lack of enought comparable examples this is difficult.

This pipe has a matching tobacco box, to be attached onto the bowl, hanging on one of the sides of the water reservoir. The inside of the lid shows another signature in well engraved Chinese characters. Strange enough the decoration does not fully match the engravings on the pipe itself, but apparently this didn’t bother the Chinese clientele. It proves that the pipe and accessories are of serial production.

Amsterdam, Pijpenkabinet collections Pk 19.611

The farmers pipe made out of bamboo
The third acquisition is a less known kind of pipe since very few have survived, being made out of bamboo. One compartment of a thick bamboo rod forms the water container, closed by the two separation shields. The pipe stands by a flattened part of the round body. The mountings are made of pakton, this time somewhat yellow, showing that also this pipe is a serial product.

The joint where bowl and stem meet is quite solid with two stubs, one for the bowl, the other for the stem. The bowl itself is like other water pipes tubular ending in a long straight slightly conical stem going down into the water. In the bowl we always find a screen on which the tobacco is burnt. Usually this is worked out in fine geometrical patters such as a token of happiness of a trefoil. Here a simple straight line is brought into the bowl, functional but without any charm.

The pipe is provided with a long standing stem made out of bamboo. This stem is slightly bent, ending in a simple brass mouth piece. Quite unexpected the pipe is marked, three Chinese characters in a scare are printed into the wood, directly under the metal plate. The pipe is acquired in Hanoi, but this doesn´t mean that this is the place of origin. Asiatic objects can travel during a long time and over long distances before finding the destination of final sale for the best price.

Amsterdam, Pijpenkabinet collections Pk 19.614

Amsterdams Pipe Smoker´s Club in Milan
Every other year the Amsterdam Pipe Smoker´s Club (Amsterdams Pijprokers Genootschap) makes a trip abroad. Earlier Copenhagen and Saint-Claude were destinations of an excursion, this time Milan was the goal. The city of Milan and the surrounding province of Lombardy have a tradition in pipe making. Strange enough for a region where the briar wood has to be imported from the south. The most known name in Italian pipes is Savinelli, a firm with worldwide export and a brand shop next to the Duomo in central Milan. The old city centre has a remarkable number of well assorted pipe shops. A small and exclusive one is housed in the famous glass Gallery. Three gentlemen in neat Italian suits help the customers of which the shop does not allow more than four, just by physical restraint.

The best assortment is presented by Al Pascia, a family business where mother surveys the stock and two brothers assist the clients in Italian or English. At the 100 year jubilee Al Pascia issued a special pipe, one of which was presented to the Pijpenkabinet collection to be kept forever. The shape of the pipe dates back to the earliest times of Al Pascia, the original tamper that comes with it is a modern invention. Personal services are of high standard in this shop, every visitor is offered a seat and the famous espresso, those who acquire a pipe will leave with the most beautiful wrapper you can imagine!

In a village out of Milan the Pipe Club paid a visit to the Castello pipe factory. Not long after WWII the father in law of the present director founded the factory in a purpose built modern building. The lay-out and machinery is still up to date, but the number of workers has been reduced to less than ten. A unique feature about Castello is that this factory doesn’t use fraises, meaning that all the pipes are dawn by hand, sawn in great lines and ultimately shaped by using nothing more than rotating sandpaper. A very severe quality check makes that the assortment for sale is of high quality, all of great beauty and a high number of straight-grains.

Further into the province, in the small city of Gavirate, the Dutch smokers visited the Paronelli pipe museum. Guided by the son (in his seventies himself) of the founder Alberto Paronelli. Alberto bought the historic inventory of the Rossi pipe works, a huge factory making briar pipes for all Europe, including the showroom displays and numerous diplomas gained in crafts exhibitions. On top of that Alberto collected wooden pipes and curiosities from all over the world, resulting in a two-story house filled up with the most unexpected pipes, tools and the more. With his artistic feeling for decoration he established his museum, now lovingly kept by his children and grandchildren. The personal guided tour through this curious ‘Wunderkammer’ was a most memorable trip.

Altogether, the excursion deepened the knowledge of the Amsterdam pipe smokers on the pipe, its history and varied appearance, at the same time strengthening the friendship among the members. Still cherishing the memory of this springtime Italian trip, we can already fantasy about future destinations.

Open pub evening
An annual initiative of the Amsterdams Pijprokers Genootschap (Amsterdam Pipe Smoker's Club) is the open pub evening in a public place. The aims are twofold: to show pipe smoking in public as a form of enjoyable smoking and secondly to provide a meeting place for pipe afficionados. The shared pleasure of enjoying a good pipe creates a natural bond, resulting in peaceful encounters and polite talks. This year's event is scheduled for Monday 10 August 2009, starting 8 p.m. with coffee and stronger drinks. Experienced pipe smokers, pipe smokers to be and all interested, everybody is welcome to join and meet other pipe smokers in the Amsterdam Pipe Club.

In principle we plan to smoke outdoors, but in case the weather doesn't allow we'll organize an indoor alternative. The final venue will be announced on short notice, included in your personal invitation. If you are interested, don't hesitate and send an email to goes@pijpenkabinet.nl .

Exhibition
This month the regional museum De Roode Tooren in Doesburg in the east of the Netherlands opened an exhibition under the title In rook vervlogen, de historie van 400 jaar tabak in Oost-Gelderland (Vanished in smoke, four centuries of tobacco in East-Gelria) that will last till October 4 2009. Central in the exhibition is the tobacco factory of Wietze Fokke van der Meulen that is incorporated in the museum. This workshop was founded in 1894 in Doesburg and worked till 1969. The entire inventory has been reconstruced in working order in the museum. Together with other mementos of the tobacco cultivation in that area the exhibition covers four centuries of tobacco in East-Gelria.

Address: Streekmuseum De Roode Tooren, Roggestraat 9-11-13 in Doesburg. Open: Tuesday to Friday 10.00-12.00 hrs. and 13.30-16.30 hrs., Saturday and Sunday 13.30-16.30 hrs. Admission free.

New publications on the web
Curator Don Duco of the Pijpenkabinet wrote some new articles that are published in full length in Dutch on the web; on the English pages a brief summary is to be found.

- The Collezione museo of Mastro de Paja, historic shapes revive in new pipe designs (Historische vormgeving herleeft in moderne tabakspijpen van Mastro de Paja): article on a special series of briar pipes, inspired by historic examples. For this series, called Collezione Museo, pipes from the Pijpenkabinet collections were adapted to high standard modern design pipes.

- Pipe finds from the Wijnhaven in Rotterdam (Pijpvondsten aan de Wijnhaven in Rotterdam): archaeological find report on smoking implements found in the harbor of Rotterdam. In this case the finds of clay pipes gave little evidence of special and recognizable features that could illuminate the social background of the users.

- A difference of taste between two groups of smokers (Over smaak valt niet te twisten, twee zeventiende eeuwse vondstgroepen vergeleken): this extensive article describes two finds of seventeenth century pipes, found in two remote parts of the Netherlands showing a different local taste for specific type of pipes. This enables the author to define the trade patterns and even production specifications applied as early as the seventeenth century for a specific local market.

- An old retailers stock from Rijssen (Gedachten rond een restvoorraad pijpen uit Rijssen): description of a lot of pipes found on a dilate attic in Rijssen, giving an idea of the smoking fashion in a provincial town of the 1890’s in the eastern part of the Netherlands. This historical finding is treated as an archaeological excavation, unfolding its secrets of the past.

A few articles that Don Duco wrote several years ago are now published on the web.

- Pipes by the II-maker from Gouda-Holland (De pijpen van de II-maker) 1991. One of the early archaeological reports, describing the finds in the Nobelstreet in Gouda. For the first time a proof was found that pipemakers in the 17th Century had already developed an assortment of various shapes and qualities to satisfy their customers.

- A royalty or a theatre queen (Een koningin of een theaterkoningin?) 1994. The story of an elaborate Gambier pipe dedicated to the French queen Catherine de Medicis, but in fact depicting queen Maria de Medicis from the next generation. How and why did this ‘mistake’ happen?

- A pressmould for the Piece of Aachen pipe (De oudste Goudse persvorm) 1996. Thorough description of a unique time document that survived over two centuries: the oldest known pipe mould dated 1748 bearing an engraving on the Peace Treaty of Aachen.

- Ancient pipe tobacco wrappers (Verpakkingen van kerftabak) 2003. Extensive article on the printed tobacco wrappers used from the 17th up to the early 20th Century. Illustrates many examples from the Pijpenkabinet collections both the technique of woodblocks and copper engravings and the traditional designs are described.

Links to these articles are to be found in § 19 on the Pijpenkabinet website (museum part). The titles themselves are formatted as a link to a separate page with the article (summary in English) and the illustrations, that have their English headings.
The archaeological reports are published under § 15, Archaeology. Try and use this opportunity to find out more on www.pijpenkabinet.nl.

New Literature
Two books on clay tobacco pipes were published shortly after each other, issued in two different continents. The American publication titled Politics of the Fur Trade: Clay Tobacco Pipes at Fort Union Trading Post (32WI17) by J. Byron Sudbury follows the tradition started in the 1950's: analytical and scientific work that proves the importance of the clay tobacco pipe as a means to interpret historical sites. Fully in contrast is the publication from the Netherlands entitled Goudse kopstukken, kleipijpen opgegraven bij Goedewaagen (clay pipes excavated at Goedewaagen) by Guus Bras, Bas Konijnendijk and Ewout Korpershoek (Gouda, 2009). In this book a photo registration of the pipe shapes found by three private diggers on the premises of the former Goedewaagen factory in Gouda is presented.

Byron’s book is interesting because of the interpretation of finds from a local trading post in the Wild West of the United States of America occupied from 1829 to 1867 for fur trading with the local Indians. Located exactly in the middle of the US, near the border of Canada (along the Missouri River, North Dakota) the post was the most remote from European culture; for that reason all commodities had to be imported. National Park Service excavated the site. Important part of the debris is the number of over 11.000 pipe fragments. The book aims at illustrating the finds in photographs, dividing it into types and styles and determinating the place of original production.

Quite surprisingly the outcome is that before 1850 mainly clay pipes from Bristol are imported, while after 1850 the main part is produced in Germany, especially made for the American market with several effigy pipes of American presidents. Byron is complimented by using and citing all previous find reports, creating a valuable report with the cumulating knowledge. This is what he intended: provide all the basic material and information even for further research.

Explicit without scientific pretentions, the book on Goedewaagen pipes is the counterpart of Sudbury’s research: it is more a photo book than a publication to read, the offered information is limited and mainly focuses on the subjective ideas of the editors than on the history itself. Although various books are used (mainly the extensive studies on Goedewaagen by Duco) it is such a pity that some mistakes have not been corrected. Several times the spelling of the name of the factory's founder and the name of the factory that changed over time remained unnoticed by the authors. For example the NV Goedewaagen (Ltd) which was founded in 1919, is cited as being 19th Century. This book is a fine book to look in, but someone who wants to gain knowledge should direct himself to other books.

Link of the month
In Holland a new forum for pipe smokers was recently launched, which is a clear indication for a more optimistic approach to pipe smoking. Browse on http://pijprokersforum.forum2go.nl/. The pages get filled gradually with tips, tricks and knacks from fellow pipe smokers. Those who read and write Dutch are directed to http://pijprokersforum.forum2go.nl/pijpen-museum-pijpenkabinet-smokania-t144.html and invited to add their own comments on the museum and shop in Amsterdam.

Pipe smokers also meet on the web in other languages. On http://www.fumarelapipa.com/ you'll find information in Italian, such a poetic language as shown in the quote "La tradizione piparia riminese” to indict the Rimini pipe club. Worldwide the choice is even more extend, sometimes with a vast audience. Two examples: http://forum.pipes.org (American) and http://www.pfeife-tabak.de/phpBB2/index.php (German).

Special Offer
Some people know how good a briar pipe can be if the wood is aged and mature. For those who want to experience the difference we have a special and price worth offer. Some time ago we bought a lot of pipes for Smokiana Pipeshop made by the Algerian pipeworks of Raoul Amiel, once a grand name in briars, now fully forgotten. One shape we can offer for the price of only € 50,- including shipping within the Netherlands (overseas shipping on request). The pipe isn’t made any more nowadays, but is attractive in itself: a depressed tomato shaped bowl, nearly streamline design from the 1950’s, with a rather long stem (11 cm). The finish in eight facets is too time consuming to produce for modern makers, but is executed perfectly in this pipe. The smoking quality derives from the wood, that has been turned into a pipe in the 1950’s, meaning that the briar is harvested long before World War II. Natural aging and drying of the briar wood gives the pipe an exceptional comfort. Try it and you will be convinced. Or by sending an e-mail to info@pijpenkabinet.nl.

End of this eleventh 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 and Publicity Pijpenkabinet

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