Serial Number: P0115
Status: Display
Description:
Genuine Block Pipe- Meerschaum
A Meerschaum pipe is a smoking pipe made from the mineral sepiolite. Meerschaum German for sea foam) is sometimes found floating on the Black Sea and is rather suggestive of sea foam (hence the German origin of the name, as well as the French name for the same substance, écume de mer).
The first recorded use of meerschaum for making pipes was around 1723 and quickly became prized as the perfect material for providing a cool, dry, flavorful smoke. The porous nature of meerschaum draws moisture and tobacco tar into the stone. Meerschaum became a premium substitute for the clay pipes of the day and remains prized to this day though, since the mid-1800s, briar pipes have become the most common pipes for smoking.
The use of briar wood beginning in the early 1820s greatly reduced demand for clay pipes and, to a lesser degree, meerschaum pipes. The qualities of the meerschaum were combined with those of the briar wood pipes by lining a briar pipe with a meerschaum bowl. Some smokers believe that the meerschaum-lined briar pipe gives the porosity and sweet smoking qualities of meerschaum along with the heat-absorbing qualities and durability of briar. However it also comes with the need to let the meerschaum cool before cleaning the pipe and occasionally letting the briar rest after a few days of smoking, so it comes with the some of the drawbacks of both. The thinness of the lining can effect how long the pipe lasts and some smokers do not clean out the pipe causing the meerschaum to crack.
