The colorful world of Meerschaum pipes

A person can certainly learn a lot from handling estate sales. We recently had one that contained a large amount of beautifully carved pipes. The majority of these pipes were Meerschaum pipes.

The word Meerschaum is German and means white sea foam. The chemical name is hydrous magnesium silicate and can be mined or is often found floating on the Black Sea as it was formed by millions of tiny white fossilized sea creatures that fell to the ocean floor millions of years ago. The first Meerschaum pipe was believed to have been produced in the 1700s.

When Meerschaum is mined, it is washed, graded and split into smaller pieces so that master carvers can carve the product into works of art. The material is soaked in water to soften it to a cheese-like consistency in order to be able to fashion it into a figure.

Many pipes are carved. Most Meerschaum is found in Turkey, Greece and Africa. There are very small deposits around the world including Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Utah.

The amazing thing about Meerschaum pipes is that they change color. When properly smoked and taken care of, the material turns shades of amber, orange and red. This occurs not only from the minerals in the pipe, but also the way that the pipe was made. After the artists carve the bowls, they are polished and dipped in beeswax over and over to ensure proper coloring. If the pipe has any imperfections after finishing, it will be destroyed.

There are three main types of Meerschaum pipes; those are the Calabash (think Sherlock Holmes), the Briar pipe and the African Block pipes. The first two are pipes are actually lined with the Meerschaum in the bowls. The African block is made from the Meerschaum mined in Africa and is usually not highly carved.

The African pipes are baked at high temperatures and turn brown, black or yellow with age and use. The Calabash is actually made from a gourd that is manipulated throughout the growing process to produce the curve for the pipe.

To care for these pipes when smoked, one must be careful to not handle by the bowl or disturb the wax coating so that the coloring will mellow and change. Overzealous cleaning of the bowl and stem can ruin the pipe as well.

As far as collecting these pipes, they have declined somewhat as tobacco use has gone down and fallen out of popularity. However, these pipes are really works of art and make a great collection whether you smoke them or not. The more valuable ones will have their original cases. The bowls are often carved in the likenesses of presidents, Turkish gentlemen or animals.

Many smokers swear by Meerschaum saying that it provides the best tobacco smoking experience, but I would not know about that!

Happy Collecting!

Jillinda Falen has been buying and selling antiques for over 30 years and is a licensed REALTOR and estate liquidation specialist. You can contact her via email at falen@windstream.net.

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