I'm coming up on one year of pipe smoking and in that time have spent far too much on various pipes, and have stocked enough tobacco to last several years. Not long ago I went searching for an entry-level meerschaum, if there is such a thing, and stumbled upon an Ebay listing. The pictures showed what appeared to be an apprentice's try-piece; something smokable, but far from refined and pretty. But it was solid block meerschaum, large enough to permit a slow, relaxed smoke, and the price was right. I took a chance and ordered it.
It arrived and the pictures proved to be spot-on. The pipe is unlovely, lacking all grace and symmetry. The stem twists a bit to one side (but don't we all, eh?) and the embellishments on the outside of the bowl are amateurish and bear more resemblance to the aftermath of smallpox than to any aesthetically pleasing pattern. Yet for all that, this ugly block of meerschaum provides the smoothest, cleanest, most enjoyable smoke of any pipe that I own.
The asymmetric shape fills the hand and permits the fingers to wrap comfortably - not unlike an asymmetric wood rifle stock in the way that it swells to fill the palm, while flattening on the opposite face to allow the fingers to find purchase. The twisted stem allows me to comfortably clench the pipe on the right side, yet have the bowl rest closer to the center-line of my face, making relights and tampings easier. The air flow is nearly perfect, resulting in little trapped moisture and far fewer relights than my briar pipes.
If you have ever stumbled upon an absolute shack of a restaurant, with peeling paint, a weathered sign and furniture that looks to have been surplussed from a bombed-out bunker, only to find that they cook one thing, and that expertly, you will understand my feelings about this pipe. To all appearances it is a failed piece, a pipe only in the most technical sense, yet it serves its one purpose most admirably, and I cannot help but love it.
- Smoking C&D Star of the East in my ugly meerschaum lump
It arrived and the pictures proved to be spot-on. The pipe is unlovely, lacking all grace and symmetry. The stem twists a bit to one side (but don't we all, eh?) and the embellishments on the outside of the bowl are amateurish and bear more resemblance to the aftermath of smallpox than to any aesthetically pleasing pattern. Yet for all that, this ugly block of meerschaum provides the smoothest, cleanest, most enjoyable smoke of any pipe that I own.
The asymmetric shape fills the hand and permits the fingers to wrap comfortably - not unlike an asymmetric wood rifle stock in the way that it swells to fill the palm, while flattening on the opposite face to allow the fingers to find purchase. The twisted stem allows me to comfortably clench the pipe on the right side, yet have the bowl rest closer to the center-line of my face, making relights and tampings easier. The air flow is nearly perfect, resulting in little trapped moisture and far fewer relights than my briar pipes.
If you have ever stumbled upon an absolute shack of a restaurant, with peeling paint, a weathered sign and furniture that looks to have been surplussed from a bombed-out bunker, only to find that they cook one thing, and that expertly, you will understand my feelings about this pipe. To all appearances it is a failed piece, a pipe only in the most technical sense, yet it serves its one purpose most admirably, and I cannot help but love it.
- Smoking C&D Star of the East in my ugly meerschaum lump
