In dit artikel worden een zeldzame kleine kleipijp en een nog zeldzamer metalen pijpenetui uit de periode 1690–1710 besproken. De pijp werd bijna vijftig jaar geleden in Amsterdam in het foudraal gevonden. Het is waarschijnlijk het oudst bekende pijpenetui. Het foudraal heeft twee scharnieren: het eerste om het deksel boven op de pijpenkop te openen en het tweede om het compartiment te openen waarin de kop wordt vastgehouden. Het deksel had ook een beveiligingsfunctie, aangezien het foudraal alleen geopend kan worden wanneer het deksel open is. De in Gouda gemaakte kleipijp is een vroeg trechtermodel uit de periode 1690–1710 en is op de hiel gestempeld met het pijpenmakersmerk gekroonde H. De ‘miniatuur’-pijp is slechts 2,5 cm hoog, bijna even groot als veel pijpen uit het einde van de zestiende of het begin van de zeventiende eeuw. Het is niet bekend waarom deze kleine voorwerpen werden gemaakt, maar het gebruik kan zijn geweest om sigaren te roken, aangezien de opening van de kop min of meer overeenkomt met die van sigarenhouders uit de achttiende en vroege negentiende eeuw.
During the 18th and 19th century, many pipe makers in various Dutch towns used the crowned letter N on their lowest cost products, aimed at the mass market. It was one of the most popular and widely used decorations. There have been many speculative suggestions as to the origin of this mark such as being short for ‘Netherlands’ or ‘Napoleon’, or being a reference to the year letters as used by silversmiths from the town of Schoonhoven. Recent archive research into the origins of the Schoonhoven clay pipe makers revealed that the letter refers to the family name of its first user, Gerrit Nobel. During the late 17th and early 18th century the pipe makers from the nearby city of Gouda started dominating the domestic and international markets focusing the majority of their efforts on their unique, high quality pipes which provided the highest possible income. This resulted in a lack of cheap, affordable pipes for the working class. The Schoonhoven pipe makers reacted quickly by concentrating on producing pipes for this lowest end market. The pipe makers from the Nobel family were amongst the first to capitalize on this opportunity, and their tremendous success lead to their mark, ‘the crowned N’, becoming synonymous with the product category of short stemmed, affordable pipes for the masses. Descendants of the first Nobel pipe maker dominated the Schoonhoven pipe industry during the 18th century. Various grandsons of Gerrit also established themselves in the city of Gouda and their descendants were active as pipemakers in that town until the 19th century. This article is based on contents from a recent publication by the author, which provides many new insights and information about the Schoonhoven clay pipe makers.
Tobacco pipes depicting the pipe maker’s craft are quite rare with only three different variations of such pipes known. They were made between 1800 and 1925. The decorations on the older models were copied on the later versions. The first and oldest pipes from ca 1810-1840 were made in the same mould but have three different pipe makers marks stamped on the heel. Although the marks were owned by members of the Van der Kleijn family from Gouda, it is rare to see different marks on identically decorated pipes from the same mould. The bowl of the second type is a little more convex and was made by the Gouda companies of Goedewaagen and Van der Want. The third one is a curled pipe made by Goedewaagen in the period 1875-1925.
In 1999-2001, the Archaeological Workgroup “Leen de Keijzer” in Houten conducted research in the grounds of Heemstede Castle west of Houten in the province of Utrecht. The tobacco pipes presented in this article have been found during excavations of the large pond west of the castle. Here is sited the former water mill and the foundations of two outbuildings which formed the premises for the castle’s stable staff and gardeners. Few, better quality funnel-shaped pipes have been found. All but one of these pipes have been rarely used and, in combination with the fine quality and higher purchase price, they were more likely to have been used by the castle inhabitants only. The bulk of the pipes are of the so-called ‘groffe’ or cheap quality and seem to have been used by the staff in the outbuildings.
This article describes how French clay pipe manufacturers advertised their pipes and how they found their way from the factory to the consumer. An important part of the sale of pipes was showing the available model range by sending sales catalogues to wholesalers in France and abroad. With these catalogues pipes could be selected and ordered from the factory by letter or postcard. There were also manufacturers who, in addition to their own pipes, traded products from the competitive pipe manufacturer Gambier. Consumers were alerted to new pipe models by advertisements. In every village or town you could find shops selling pipes to the consumers. These stores ordered their pipes from specialized wholesalers or so-called ‘dépôt de pipes de Gambier’, which within a certain region had the exclusive right to sell pipes from Gambier.
In October 1879, Le Figaro, the oldest French daily newspaper, published a short article in which eight figural pipes from the Gambier factory were mentioned alongside their annual sales figures for the year 1878. In the same period this short but interesting article also appeared in Dutch newspapers. It mentioned how the popularity of certain people at that time was measured by the fact that they were modelled into a pipe bowl and the extent to which that pipe bowl was sold. Apparently, the article appealed to the imagination of later editors of newspapers because it was repeated at least twice: in 1929 and in 1937, almost sixty years after the first publication and more than ten years after the closure of the Gambier pipe factory. The pipes in the first newspaper are shown below in order of the number of pipes sold in 1878.
It is often stated that changing smoking customs was the main reason for the decline of the clay pipe industry in Gouda during the 20th century. This article makes clear that there were many other developments that influenced this decline and in a number of years even growth of the pipe industry was observed. This was due to capable leadership in the large combined pipe and earthenware factories. At the start of the century production and sales were reasonably stable. The First World War caused, not only massive cigarette promotion, but brought problems of export and the import of parts and raw materials as well. Directly after the war inflation rose tremendously and the increasing costs and sale prices of the pipe industry could not keep pace with this inflation. This was due to the impossibility of improving the efficiency of the pipe makers. There was a suggestion that the development of the plaster moulded pipe was the solution to this problem but this proved not to be the case. The longest strike in Dutch history and the Wall Street crash of 1929 caused severe difficulties for the pipe and earthenware industry. When, at the end of the thirties, sales improved, World War II changed the situation again. After the war the pipe became mainly an export and souvenir article. In the eighties the last big factories ceased production. For a number of years it is clear that pipe production was more profitable than the production of earthenware and indeed the pipe saved manufacturers in the difficult times. Capable leadership; concentration on sales and accepted designs in the Goedewaagen factory; the focus on design and quality and innovation in the Zenith factory made sure these factories survived such a long time in the turbulent 20th century.
