History of the Meerschaum Pipe

Meerschaum pipes have a long history as both romantic and an symbol of a time long past. Shrouded in mystery these beautifully carved pipes have their origins in over five different countries and are mostly attributed to Hungry and Poland. Many stories exist as to how they started carving such intricate pipes from a stone. Yes, the material is scientifically named after the cuttlefish bone, but the material is in fact a stone called Sepiolite. It is often called a Meerschaum pipe after the German word for "sea foam" since most of the meerschaum carvers are from Germany and the surrounding countries. The earliest mention of using Meerschaum to make pipes is a story of a French artist and student of an Italian sculptor, Louis Pirre Puget carved one in 1652. It may have been used earlier but with all the myths and legends surrounding it only one this is certain: it came from the east and was made legendary and romanticized by the West. Because a pipe of such a rare material required not only possession of the rare material but a sculptor or artist to carve it into a usable piece these pipes were considered signs of wealth. With so many of the higher class trying to out-shine each other hundreds of pipes were made, many never being used as anything more then a showcase of an artist work. Many times they would have the pipe "seasoned" before having it delivered. The pipe would be smoked by someone in house in order to looked used before it was given to the customer who would then place them on the mantle for show. Because of the wonderful artwork and the care of which people took with these pipes, an antique meerschaum pipe is highly valued as a collector's piece for the smoking and non-smoking.