Pipe, not pipe...wait a minute--pipe!

The Chokwe peoples occupy the broad expanse of open savanna in present-day Angola and Democratic Republic of Congo. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Chokwe chiefs became increasingly involved in trade with Europeans who sought rubber, wax, and ivory as well as African slaves for their colonies in the New World. Slaves were often exchanged for firearms, and these were employed in raids on neighboring peoples that produced more captives to sell to European traders. Local leaders who prospered from this exchange frequently commissioned prestige items from local artisans to indicate their wealth and power. This tobacco pipe is one such item that demonstrates the degree to which warfare, the slave trade, and elite arts were intertwined at this time. The pipe itself was the prerogative of individuals who could afford expensive imported tobacco, generally by trading slaves, while the rifle refers to the means by which such slaves were acquired.

 From the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History.  Click to read full article.

Pipe, not pipe #3

Oh, this photo brings back memories.  I have misplaced the original, and thought I had lost the scan.  I had stored it in a folder with some famous pipe smokers (such as Faulkner from the previous post), for some reason, and didn't know it was there.  I couldn't remember what I had named the file, so I couldn't just do a file search for it.  I'm glad I found it again.

It was what at first glance may appear to be a beautiful meerschaum pipe, partially and elegantly colored, with what is possibly--and is in fact, actually--an amber stem.  This is a post card that was sent to me by Tom Dunn of The Pipe Smoker's Ephemeris many years ago, and which I painstakingly scanned with my first scanner--a hand scanner!--all those years ago.  The inscription on the reverse is as follows:

Zigarrenspitze aus Meerschaum mit Bernsteinmundstück.

 Reichgeschmückte junge Dame (H. 10 cm). 

Ende 19. Jahrh.

Which, to the best of my knowledge, translates as:

Cigar holder made out of meerschaum with amber stem.

A richly adorned young lady (height 10 cm).

End of the 19th century.

It seems odd to me that a cigar holder would be made so that the cigar had to stick straight up in front of your face, but then maybe it was meant to be used with short cigars.  At a height of 10 cm, it would be quite tall for a pipe.

In any case...there it is!

Pipe, not pipe #2

undated but probably "vintage" ad (click to enlarge)

I have seen other versions of the pipe gun in books. This was not a unique idea.  However, I would dispute that a single-shot, short-barreled, awkward to handle .25 caliber pistol could be described as "formidable."  Furthermore, having experienced shooting a .22 derringer, I would hazard a bet that if this pistol is fired as shown, recoil would make it jump right out of the shooter's hand.

Pipe, not pipe #1

click to enlarge

When is a pipe not a pipe?  When it's a cigar holder.  Here we have a nattily-dressed late 19th century young man, complete with top hat, smoking his cigar in something that looks somewhat pipe-like.

Honestly, in my opinion, he doesn't pull it off.  If he was thirty years older, maybe, but as is, I can't help but think that this is the 1890s version of the modern douchebag.

From My Ear Trumpet Has Been Struck By Lightning via Brer.