Gustav Fischer

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From Pipes, Artisans and Trademarks, by José Manuel Lopes

Gustav Fischer is a highly respected sculptor of meerschaum pipes from the late 19th and the first decades of the 20th century, that had works on show at the Museum of Tobacco Art and History (now closed).

Born in Austria, and having graduated from the Vienna Academy of Art, Gustav emigrated to New York in 1893. He moved to Boston in order to work at the David P. Elrich Company, where he made meerschaum pipes with mythological figures, elephants, horses, and cowboys. He never signed his pieces.

  • The following article by Ben Rapaport contains very well researched information on this interesting artist and his work. It appears in Pipes & Tobacco Magazine

The article states' "Boston's Gustav Fischer Sr.’s rendition of the “Battle of Bunker Hill,” after John Trumbull’s famous oil on canvas, “The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775” (1786). It stands out as one very remarkable sculpture, a monumental two-pound, 34-inch-long meerschaum work of art with 31 high-relief-carved figures, three American flags, and one British flag, a pipe that he carved over a period of four years."



The following photos of this magnificant piece are from the article The Battle of Bunkerhill