www.pijpenkabinet.nl - Pijpenkabinet Newsletter 15

In the past months two themes dominated the work in the Pijpenkabinet. The first was the continuous work on the new website. Bringing in additional information and endless corrections in the background database was a time consuming matter. In the photo studio, next to the room where the spare collection is stored, the ongoing digital photography adds more and more parts of the collection to the website in visible form. The second theme was the acquisition of an important series of objects from the Niemeyer Tobacco Museum in Groningen in March this year. Altogether, last months of hard labour result in long lasting effects for the Pijpenkabinet.

This Newsletter is completely dedicated to the newly acquired items from the closed Niemeyer museum. As two years ago, when an important part of the SEITA-museum was bought by the Pijpenkabinet, this issue is a theme number in which we present a selection of the purchase. With the on-line database, everybody who follows us on the internet can now see the complete purchase of the Niemeyer collection on the web.

This also is the last Newsletter published on our current website. From September when our Wikipipia will be publicly launched in the press, the further editions of the Newsletter will be brought out on the new website www.pipemuseum.nl.

Acquisitions from the Niemeyer Tobacco Museum
Last year November the press announced that the beautiful museum of Niemeyer, since 1978 housed together with the Noordelijk Scheepvaartmuseum (the nautical museum dedicated to sailing) in Brug street in Groningen, will be closed to public. With that decision Niemeyer followed the stream of liquidations of tobacco- and tobacco related collections once open to public, now closed and sold out.

The Niemeyer Tobacco Museum has a history of over 50 years. This corporate museum was born as the private collection of Georg Brongers, originating from the little province town Middelstum in the Groningen province. Not long before the Second World War this dedicated collector started a collection of tobacco related items and fine books. In 1951 Brongers was one of the most important loaners to the exhibition at the World Tobacco Congress in Amsterdam. There the Groningen tobacco firm Niemeyer discovered that the historical importance of smoking could well be used for promotional activities of their products. Some years later Niemeyer took over the Brongers collection and employed the collector himself as the manager of the corporate museum. The first presentation was made on the premises of the factory at Paterswoldseweg in Groningen.

In 1964 the museum made a new step, more open to the public. The firm bought a canal house in Amsterdam, centrally located along the river Amstel, to be used for meetings of the board and reception of foreign relations. The collection was brought to Amsterdam and permanently exhibited in three rooms in the basement of Amstel 57. The museum was officially named Niemeyer Nederlands Tabacologisch Museum. On this location the museum was housed for ten years till a new director decided to bring all activities back to Groningen. The Niemeyer firm funded the restoration of the so-called Gothic House, the oldest house in Groningen, and offered it together with the neighbouring houses to the city of Groningen. In these buildings the Nautical Museum was housed together with the Niemeyer Tobacco Museum, operating under the same director. The complex was opened in 1978.

Georg Brongers stayed as curator of the tobacco collection, in later years accompanied and succeeded by the director of the nautical museum Tiemen Helperi Kimm. After Brongers' retirement Kimm rearranged the collection and enlarged it with a series of top quality items. Quality and aesthetics were his personal motives. Kimm retired in 1992 and from that time onwards the collection stayed as it was, not expanded any more, gradually getting dusted.

The closing of the museum was not unexpected. Niemeyer paid the Nordic Nautical Museum quite an amount of money for managing the collection. In the mean time, the tobacco firm was bought by the multinational BAT, not having any ties with Groningen nor with history. In the same period strict European regulations on advertising of tobacco and smoking made it impossible to exploit the promotional value of the museum. The firm stated that the museum had to close down because they did no longer wish to stimulate the habit of smoking. In saying so, they ignored the fact that the museum promotes only the cultural aspect of smoking in the Netherlands. In fact, closing the museum was purely a matter of financial cuts.

Thanks to the intervention of the Nautical Museum the tobacco collection was not sold out straight away, as was happened with so many other corporate collections. The BAT allowed registered Dutch museums to take over items against their valuated price. The Pijpenkabinet took that opportunity in a generous way. So an important part of the collection could be kept for the Collections of the Netherlands, the common property of all Dutch museums.

Extended fields of collecting
The Pijpenkabinet made its selection based on its own position in Nederland Museumland. Items to be taken over should fit into the existing fields of interest: pipes and directly related objects. Next to that, the collection was extended by acquiring tobacco related items that are not found in other Dutch museums. This means that the Pijpenkabinet didn't buy the large Delftware snuff pots, silver tobacco jars in the various Louis-styles and other items that are already well represented in various Dutch museums. In contrast, we did choose items that do not figure in other collections, like pipe cases, pipe tools, but also snuff rasps and tobacco boxes.

In total over 400 items were added to the collections of the Pijpenkabinet, of which a selection will be discussed below. Striking about this purchase is the average high quality of the pieces. Another remarkable fact is that only two geographical areas are represented: the meso- and North-American on one side and the (North-)Western-European on the other side. Ethnographic materials were not included in the Niemeyer collection. The items that are discussed below, show the large variety. Other items will be published somehow in future.

Pre-Columbian
Between 1965 and 1980 Niemeyer formed a special collection of pre-Columbian smoke utensils. At that time trading archaeological artefacts was relatively easy, there were no strict ethical regulations and export limitations as nowadays. Interesting is that the objects collected by Niemeyer match perfectly to the items already in the Pijpenkabinet collection. No wonder, since the same dealer provided the two museums at the same time.

Sitting smoker
The sitting person carved in porous volcano stone depicts a smoker from the pre-Columbian era. Represented is a medicine man smoking from a tubular pipe or eventually holding a primitive cigar between his lips. The introvert pose refers to the cultural tradition of the agreeable twilight sleep by tobacco intoxication that raise the ghosts. The rather compact sculpture measures 11,5 centimetres. The country of origin is Costa Rica, the region where it was found is Linea Vieja. Dating of this object lies round the year 1000.

Acrobate
A remarkable and certainly flamboyant terra cotta pipe is this sitting person that brings his leg into his neck with pretended ease. The figuration is delicately transformed into a pipe, with the straight left leg functioning as pipe stem, the foot being the mouthpiece. The object is primarily modelled in clay and then covered with a slight layer of polished clay mire, that turned reddish by firing. Details like earrings, necklace and headdress are added in brown-yellow clay which makes a fine contrast. Unfortunately the provenance of such archaeological finds is unclear, since the illegal excavators hide their sources. For sure it concerns a burial gift. In style it fits the Totanake tribes in South-Veracruz, Mexico. Dating between 300 and 900 AD.

An important part of the collection of pipes from American-Indian origin Niemeyer bought from a dedicated American collector, named E.K. Petri from Burlington (Wisconsin), of whom unfortunately no further information is known. The intention of this sub collection was to show the pre- or early history of smoking as represented by the North-American Indian tribes. In the course of twenty years a fully grown collection was raised not to be found in any other Dutch museum in that quality. From this special group the Pijpenkabinet did choose a relatively large portion of the most representative pieces in order to keep them available in a Dutch museum. Two items will be discussed here.

Double tubular pipe
This beautiful tubular steatite pipe is very desirable and hard to get for those who collect Indian pipes. For several reasons. First of all tubular pipes are rare, generally speaking, but in this case it concerns an extra large size and on the top of that not a single piece but a double bowled pipe. The two ends are separated by a pair of raised rings. On these rings the maker carved a series of subtle cross bands, while both ends have an incised line just under the bowl opening. These type of tubular pipes perfectly fit in the Indian culture of pipe smoking, where it was common to lay down to be drugged by smoking in the most relaxing way. As an exception this two bowled pipe could have been used from two sides. Possibly the second bowl could have been filled with dried grass to work like a filter. The object was retrieved from an Indian grave in Marion County in the state Alabama, probably also the production place. A precise dating is difficult to give, most likely it concerns a pre Columbian pipe although it could also origin from the early historic period. Anyhow, the item was made fully by hand and no traces of European metal tools can be found on the surface. The dating is estimated between 1400 and 1700 AD.

Impressive elbow
A fantastic archaeological find is this elbow pipe, a shape that was greatly admired by the American Indians. Most remarkable is the huge size of the pipe: the bowl measures fourteen centimetres in height and weights over eleven ounces. There is a subtlety in the design of this pipe, that seems straight, but isn't. Then square lines of the walls of the bowl and stem, change almost indiscernible into the rounded lines on the sides facing the smoker, like the back of the bowl and top of the stem. Altogether it concerns a massive and impressive pipe with an apparently simple design that proves to be just delicate. The type of stone is a jasper conglomerate with a course structure, full of red spots in thousands of colours. This pipe once belonged to an Indian chief and was buried with that person. The pipe is one of the few objects that are illustrated in the standard work by West from 1934 on the native American tobacco pipe that changed ownership after publishing. Thanks to this publication we know the find spot, namely Nacoochee in White County in de state Georgia. This doubtless pre-Columbian object dates between 1000 and 1500AD.

The Niemeyer collection didn’t hold a large number of clay tobacco pipes from either archaeological or historical origin. As a corporate museum it had primarily a visitors function, no scientific ambitions. Collecting all possible shapes, marks and decorations was by no means the goal. Nevertheless, even this museum collection holds a series of interesting items, worthwhile to be taken over by the Pijpenkabinet with its extensive department of clay pipes.

Presentation piece
One of the pipes that was published many times, already by Mr. Brongers, is this huge clay pipe bowl that is hand moulded and fully covered with makers stamps. The bowl is 8 cm. in height, which is four times the size of a common pipe from the 1640’s. It is an archaeological find from Haarlem, discovered long before the year 1950. When we compare the various publications over a few decades, we notice quite a change in knowledge. In the 1960's the pipe was regarded as a master piece or guild piece from Gouda, made to prove the craftsmanship of a master pipe maker. In the mean time we know that a master's piece was not making an exceptional item, but that good quality serial work was required. In the 1980's the place of production is considered to be Amsterdam and its function stated as a presentation piece, solely for display. Some more studies are carried out now, which hopefully will give this exceptional piece its final determination.

Giant “Kaffeehauspfeife”
The ‘coffee house pipe’, better known by its German name “Kaffeehauspfeife”, is a well known pipe style among collectors. A high, narrow hexagonal bowl with embossed decorations at all sides are its characteristics. These pipes were sold in cardboard boxes, containing half a dozen of pipe bowls and one single stem. The idea was that the smoker changes the bowl when it is getting clogged by nicotine, in fact an early type of hygienic or health pipe. The illustrated pipe has all qualifications of a coffee house pipe, the only difference being the size. The bowl is just over 10 centimeters in height, much larger than average. We recognize this size as a fashionable pipe in the 1880 when tobacco was consumed in large portions from pipes with long stems. This example is made around 1880 by the well-known pipe works/wholesaler Müllenbach und Thewald from Höhr in the Westerwald region in Germany.

Mr Brongers started collecting porcelain pipes before World War II and it is hard to discover any later acquisitions in the Niemeyer Collection. All good quality, hand-painted pipe bowls from the famous porcelain manufactures were bought before the 1960’s. Later on, after 1975, Brongers took an interest in the pipes that were popular with the rural population in Groningen province, painted in Germany on demand with names and other texts. For the Pijpenkabinet we have chosen some fine examples to add to the already well-provided sub-department of porcelain pipes.

Egyptian woman's head
This porcelain portrait pipe clearly depicts a person from the Egyptian culture: a mask with pharao-like headdress turned into a pipe bowl. The colors with dominating green and gold fit the Empire-style, the early 1800’s when the Egyptian culture was discovered and became highly fashionable in Europe. This pipe, however, dates from the 1830’s, one generation later than the first Egyptomania. Design and finish are rare, which makes it difficult to say whether the pipe is of German or French origin. The rather common silver mounting and lid is not the ideal combination with the gold painting. The finely carved stem seems original, with its bone flattened middle part. The carved woman’s head with laurel halfway the stem has more a Greek-Roman appearance, rather than Egyptian.

Porcelain show piece
This over-sized porcelain mounted pipe (Gesteckpfeife in German) is one of the unique features of the Niemeyer Collection. The size of the bowl is 24 centimetres! The decoration makes it most suitable for a tobacco museum: half a dozen pipe smokers are depicted in colour on the front of the giant bowl. They represent all kind of smokers, from various ranks as we see from both their clothing and their smoking habits. A Pasha is sitting in front with his long chibouck, next to him a workman is cutting a tobacco rope and an Indian holding a bunch of tobacco leaves. Behind these personages, three gentlemen are gathered around a large plate of ready-rubbed tobacco and a tobacco package. Together they represent the origin and production of tobacco. At the back of the pipe bowl a suitable text is written (translated): "We all have the same God, but not the same tobacco". The exclusive porcelain lid on top, and the original wooden stem complete the pipe. The object can be dated around the year 1800.

The majority of all meerschaum tobacco pipes in the Niemeyer collection have once been in possession of a anonymous Hungarian smoker. Unfortunately we don't know anything about this mysterious collector, who must have been an ardent smoker. Only incidentally the consecutive curators of Niemeyer have bought an additional meerschaum , mostly cigar holders. In this way an fine set of meerschaum pipes has been assembled over 40 years. The Pijpenkabinet made a selection of the finest qualities.

Goddess Diana
Niemeyer used this cylindrical pipe with swallow embossment many times in publications. The practically unused white meerschaum became a sort of mascot for the museum. The carved decoration shows a sleeping Diana, goddess of the hunt, accompanied by a cupid and with a stag and boar as her attributes. Even more refined than the figures are the decorative motives in Louis-XVI style: garlands in great detail, perfect rhythm and surprising effect of the subtle relief. The impressive silver lid with imperial crown on top gives this pipe its extra luxury. Most probable this pipe has been made in Budapest, certainly before 1820.

Bison Hunt
Again a show piece, made for the 1893 Chicago World Exhibition, on the occasion of the commemoration of 400 years Columbus' discovery of America, although the fair opened one year too late. The basic shape of the pipe, common in Europe at the time, is called egg-bowl: a compact egg shaped bowl with short uprising stem in the same line ending in a heavy stub. The carving, however, is American in work and subject, showing the bison hunt by native Americans. The carver made optimal use of the block of meerschaum, creating a animated scene with characters hiding on all sides, although one side is obviously the focal centre. In detail the carving is not as fine as the best Austrian work. Date of creation is 1892.

Both Mr Brongers and Mr Kimm had a keen interest in folk art and Dutch crafts. The wooden pipe cases are fine examples of this work, made from the late 17th up to the late 19th century. Pipe cases are meant to be for practical use to transport the breakable clay pipe, but tend to become personal items of pride and status. Just these examples were collected by Niemeyer and now by the Pijpenkabinet.

Two portraits
This pipe case form the first quarter of the 18th Century is made in very fine boxwood. The bigger part, holding the pipe bowl, is shaped as a kind of Janus head, combining a man and a woman. The stem is decorated with fine acanthus leaves. The high-quality carving is more artistic than folk art, more refined than primitive. Typical for the early cases is the way the case opens and closes: with a sliding part along the full length. The production place of these fine pipe cases is not yet known, although it certainly is work of a specialized maker.

A pipe case from Zeeland
The Dutch Province Zeeland is known for the frequent use of pipe cases, part of the local costume. The man's trousers even had a special pocket to hold the case. The illustrated pipe case is characteristic for the Zeeland types, both in shape and exuberant decoration. The hinged lid shows the coat of arms of the province, the other side some folk art birds and flowers in symmetrical setting. The main decoration carefully carved in fine wood shows a ploughing farmer and a man on horseback, quite suitable for a farmers' Sundays pipe case. The ability, experience and accuracy of the make, prove that this item is rather professional than amateur work. It should date from around 1850.

Niemeyer had a huge set of tobacco boxes, illustrating the full development of shapes and decorations of the Dutch box. Especially the last curator fancied the rare and early boxes, of which the Pijpenkabinet has chosen the finest ones. Out of the more common, later brass boxes we selected a few ones for their impeccable state of conservation. In the antique trade most of these engraved tobacco boxes are worn and rubbed, which makes the engravings hardly recognisable.

The earliest tobacco box
This elegant small box might be considered as the archetype of the tobacco box, although the octagonal ground plan and high facet cover reminds of the medieval clerical boxes. What makes it a tobacco box is the pipe tamper fixed to the hinge, at the same time a proof of the early 17th century date when the pipes had narrow bowls, too small to fill with your fingers. The exterior is exclusively decorated with geometric enamelled patterns in late renaissance style. This box has been discovered as an archaeological find, an example without comparison. Dating circa 1620.

Box with secret scenes
From 1720 onwards the square rectangular tobacco box comes into fashion. For the next forty years they are made in series by the thousands in brass and red copper. Rarely a box is a special make, like the illustrated one of exceptional luxury. Both on the cover and the bottom two engraved additional sliding doors hide a second, secret engraving. When closed we see the exterior elegant scenes, but opened the second scenes present the women as seducers. Even in the smallest details the iconography is tempting: a cat nibbling a giant phallus. Inside the box a cut and engraved representations of a Roman goddess with sickle, possibly Flora, is added. All engravings are of the highest quality and ability. Dating 1730-1750.

From the numerous tobacco related curiosities we bought a few items for the Pijpenkabinet collection, selected by quality and beauty. We describe two snuff items, that represent the huge fashion of snuff taking of which so little physical objects remain. All Dutch cities had their snuff wind mills on the city ramparts, the tobacco shops were dominated by the Delftware snuff pots, both forgotten or lost. With this choice from the Niemeyer collection we can extend the presentation of the Pijpenkabinet with these additional 'tabacological' theme.

Wooden snuff rasp
This is a fine example of a carved wooden snuff rasp, in rare bell shaped outline. The decorated lid slides away to uncover the metal rasp. The cover shows all the datable stylish decorations in carved flowers, curly foliage, a crowned family coat-of-arms held by two funny lions, betraying their folk-art background. When used the pulvered tobacco was collected underneath the iron rasp and could be released by the sprout at the end into a snuff box. The carving is called César Bagard work, after the most well-known wood artist in Nancy, France. It is not certain, however, that this rasp originates from Nancy, but the dating is surely between 1720 and 1750.

Snuff box in Meissen style
The summit of snuff taking was to present your snuff to your friends and relatives from a box that showed off your status and pride. This porcelain square box has a slightly domed cover, attached with gilded brass mountings and hinges. The sides and cover have a swallow relief pressed in the porcelain of cross bands and cartouches, holding the painted decoration of an elegant couple and bunches of flowers. This box resembles in all aspects the boxes made in the famous Meissen manufacture, even in the blue mark on the bottom. However, nor the porcelain, nor the painting is fine enough for Meissen, so it must be an imitation from another production centre. Shape and decoration make it possible to date the box on 1750-1760.

Looking back at the former Niemeyer collection
The start of the tobacco collection of Georg Brongers and the closing of the Niemeyer Tobacco Museum in Groningen span a period of seventy years, a period of major changes in the history of collecting ‘tabacology’.

Originally the collection was started by a dilletante collector as a pass time. Brongers was a bibliophilic collector in the first place, who bought some objects related to tobacco consumption in the Netherlands as a pioneer in this field. When Niemeyer took over in the sixties, attention shifted to the presentation value for which more attractive objects were needed, instead of trivial artefacts that represent some historic facts for which Brongers had a sharp eye. From now on the objects served a purpose to promote the Niemeyer tobacco products.

Museological aims as research and collection in an encyclopaedic way didn’t exist for Niemeyer. As curator Brongers wrote numerous popular articles, showing that he had read his historic 17th and 18th Century books. In two important books Brongers laid down the current knowledge on the history of tobacco use in the Netherlands: his standard work in English “Nicotiana Tabacum” and the more popular “Van Gouwenaar tot bruyèrepijp” (From Churchwarden to Briar Pipe). For the corporate museum he organized exhibitions both in museums and on trade fairs, in order to disseminate the interest in the culture of smoking. In the end tobacco smoking got a negative association which caused the final decision to close the museum.

With its selection from the Niemeyer collections, the Pijpenkabinet saved the core of the museum in its context for future generations. The major part – in numbers – of 2000 objects will be deaccessioned in two public sales, the first in June at Christies Amsterdam, the second later this year at a local auction house in Hilversum. Private persons and the antique trade will disperse all material which makes that the pedigree of Niemeyer will get lost finally. The collection of the last Dutch tobacco firm will go up in smoke.

Of course we are happy to show the acquisitions to the public. In four themes, a selection is shown for six weeks each in a special show case, following this scheme:

Related to the theme of the Niemeyer Collection we are happy to offer one of the reference books by former curator Georg A. Brongers, entiteled Van Gouwenaar tot bruyèrepijp. This attractive square-shaped book is illustrated in full-colour, showing the history of Dutch tobacco consumption with the objects from the former Groningen museum. The book was issued on the occasion of the re-opening of the museum in 1978. The text in Dutch is just a minor addition to the splendid illustrations of these brand new books.

The book is obtainable for only € 15,- collected at the Pijpenkabinet in Amsterdam, which enables you to see the selected acquisitions, or to be ordered by bank transfer of € 20,- (Netherlands / € 30,- worldwide). Offer up to 1st August 2011.

End of this fifteenth Newsletter
Thank you for your interest and till the next issue !
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Pijpenkabinet Museum & Smokiana pipe shop
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Phone: +31 (0)20 42 11 779
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