19th Century Pipes

Cyrano · #1 12-19-2014, 10:20 PM

These pipes belonged to my great grandfather, Benjamin Doane. Sometime soon I'll send them to the family archives at Doane College in Crete, NE. The one illustrated may have been his favorite as he is seen smoking it on the porch of his house in Bayonne, NJ in 1916. The pipe comes apart in three pieces: the mouthpiece with sheet silver over it. I don't know what is the material in the actual mouthpiece. The stem is next, made of wood with many bands of line intertwined, sailor fashion, and now apparently varnished several times, and the bowl. The bowl is covered in leather over wood. After polishing the silver (it was black, hadn't been polished in at least 50 years, maybe 75. I wasn't even sure it was silver), I gave the leather a shot of Lexol which it soaked up nicely. The top of the bowl is sheet silver and at the back of the bowl is a US trade dollar as an ornament. Probably the whole thing was hand made. It's 32 1/2 inches long.

Picture of Benjamin Doane in 1916.
Pipe's Mouthpiece.
Bowl
Trade Dollar
The Whole Pipe.

Cyrano · #2 12-19-2014, 10:34 PM

There's a story behind this pipe. Benjamin Doane was born in Barrington Passage, Nova Scotia. His parents were farmers. It is a testament to how difficult it was to farm in that stony land with long winters, that at least three of his brothers also went to sea. His first long voyage was in a Nova Scotia whaling ship, the Athol, Captain Coffin commanding. They hunted whales in the Pacific for three years. On the way home, about 1848, in Newport, Wales, he rowed the captain and a visiting Dutch captain ashore. The two had consumed a fair amount of liquor aboard and the Dutchman left his pipe in the rowboat. Doane, whose total worldly possesions were in a sea chest on board the ship, kept the pipe, although it looks like he used it little.

Pipe Case.
Pipe Case Open.
Pipe, Left Side.
Pipe, Right Side.
Marking Inside Case.

Cyrano · #3 12-19-2014, 10:48 PM

The rest of the pipe stuff. There are four long pipestems, two of them decorated with woven line. There are also two ceramic pipe bowls, probably made in Germany. The one not illustrated shows a lady who has apparently lost her clothes and is a litle too risqué for this forum. There are some miscellaneous parts; I don't know how they're assembled or used; any ideas?

Pipestems.
Ceramic Bowl.
Ropework on one of the pipestems.
Everything else in the collection. I don't know what they are, how they fit together or how they're used.

Wyatt p. Tato · #4 12-20-2014, 09:47 PM

Very interesting. People had a lot less possessions but what they did have was of the best quality.

lawandorder · #5 12-20-2014, 10:13 PM

Wonderful family heirlooms. Thank you for sharing them.

Malpasowildlifer · #6 12-21-2014, 04:49 PM

very unique, thanks for sharing

shouldazagged · #7 12-21-2014, 10:48 PM

That painted ceramic bowl is a beauty, but the whole collection is interesting.

thomasinaz · #8 12-22-2014, 11:22 AM

Those are some very interesting old pipes. The one in post 2 looks like a carved Meerschaum pipe. Meerschaum is a soft stone from the middle east that they have carved into pipes for centuries.

I think those in post 3 (pics 2 and 4) may be parts from German Black Forest or porcelain wine pipes. A while ago I found a story about an old family porcelain wine pipe on a pipe forum, where the author references these. There are some pictures of several varieties of these old pipes on Google.

Anyways it's amazing those old pipes survived in such good condition, with your Great Grandfather's story. Very nice pieces of family history!