A gift

My wife was in the area of an antique shop we frequent while out shopping last week. Remembering I had been looking at this pair of meerschaum pipes last we where there, she stopped in to see if they still had them. They did and she got them. It really was a nice surprise.

I believe the stems are amber. They are harder than vulcanite or acrylic and very uncomfortable between the teeth, both have indentations and considerable wear on the pipe side of the button, the color appears more yellow in natural light.

I’m quite sure they did not originally come together as a set, at least not in this case, as it was made to hold a single pipe larger than either of these. The rims of both pipes are charred and the paneled pipe (on the right) has about an eighth inch of cake. My best guess, these pipes date to the late 19th or early 20th century, but I’m not an expert.




ps The lighter didn’t come with the pipes, it’s in the picture for perspective.