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A Conversation Piece: "The Most Expensive Pipe": Difference between revisions
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Another Turkish meerschaum pipe is mentioned in the Guinness Book of World Records. In the 1978 issue: “The most expensive smoker’s pipe is an intricately carved meerschaum pipe, marketed by CAO Meerschaums of Nashville, Tennessee, which sells in New York City for $8,000.” The 1980 issue mentions a “Most Valuable Pipe,” … “flying horseman,” … “marketed in San Francisco for $10,000.” According to “Hot cigar and pipe hobby leads entrepreneur to prosperity” (Nashville Business Journal, May 10, 1998): “He [Ozgener, CEO of C.A.O. Inc.] has more than 1,000 pipes in his collection, including the famous Flying Dutchman pipe which appeared in the Guinness Book of World Records for years as the most expensive pipe in the world valued at $10,000.” Then, “’The Guinness Book of World Records’ lists the most valuable meerschaum pipe at $50,000, owned by Cano Ozgener, Jun 12, 2018” (eileenandmorgan.com). I could not find a picture of this pipe, and I cannot explain the disparity in price. | Another Turkish meerschaum pipe is mentioned in the Guinness Book of World Records. In the 1978 issue: “The most expensive smoker’s pipe is an intricately carved meerschaum pipe, marketed by CAO Meerschaums of Nashville, Tennessee, which sells in New York City for $8,000.” The 1980 issue mentions a “Most Valuable Pipe,” … “flying horseman,” … “marketed in San Francisco for $10,000.” According to “Hot cigar and pipe hobby leads entrepreneur to prosperity” (Nashville Business Journal, May 10, 1998): “He [Ozgener, CEO of C.A.O. Inc.] has more than 1,000 pipes in his collection, including the famous Flying Dutchman pipe which appeared in the Guinness Book of World Records for years as the most expensive pipe in the world valued at $10,000.” Then, “’The Guinness Book of World Records’ lists the most valuable meerschaum pipe at $50,000, owned by Cano Ozgener, Jun 12, 2018” (eileenandmorgan.com). I could not find a picture of this pipe, and I cannot explain the disparity in price. | ||
Let’s go back in time. The William Demuth Company of New York, the largest U.S. pipe manufacturer in the mid- to late 19th century. It commissioned the Columbus pipe, known as the “Discovery of | Let’s go back in time. The William Demuth Company of New York, the largest U.S. pipe manufacturer in the mid- to late 19th century. It commissioned the Columbus pipe, known as the “Discovery of America by Columbus,” for the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 that took two years to make. It depicts Christopher Columbus claiming the new land for the Spanish empire, alongside his shipmates, a priest, and Native Americans (altogether, 21 high- and low-relief-carved figures), and measuring 33” l., including a very ornately crafted, sectional, multicolor amber mouthpiece. It is illustrated in the Demuth Spring 1932 catalog, described as “WDC. $50,000 Meerschaum Pipe,” and on one of its advertising postcards. This pipe may be familiar to you, because it is illustrated in Ehwa, The Book of Pipes & Tobacco. | ||
[[File:WDC-ColumbusMeer-Postcard.jpg|thumb|left|Obverse side of the WDC postcard, courtesy Gene Umberger]]Where is it today? The story is rather convoluted. The American Tobacco Company, Richmond, Virginia, acquired the Demuth collection of some 250 pipes, the “Half-and-Half Collection,” in 1940. In 1957, the collection was donated to the Valentine Museum in Richmond. After a fire in 1963, the collection was placed in storage. In 1991 the Museum sold it to Austria Tabak (AT), Vienna, Austria, adding to the AT Museum’s extensive collection of antiquarian pipes and related smoking utensils. The Columbus pipe was the centerpiece attraction in October 1992, when AT celebrated the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America. In 2001, the AT Museum was shuttered and, in 2002, most of the museum’s inventory were auctioned; however, it retained a quantity of choice pipes and related artifacts. In 2009, to celebrate 225 years of AT—10 of which were now as a subsidiary of Japan Tobacco International (JTI)—Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum (Art History Museum) sponsored “Nicotiana. A Cultural History of Tobacco,” an exhibition with the Columbus pipe as the centerpiece once again. It’s never been stated as to how the original $50,000 valuation was derived, and it has not been offered for sale by JTI, so it’s impossible to know how much it could command today. | [[File:WDC-ColumbusMeer-Postcard.jpg|thumb|left|Obverse side of the WDC postcard, courtesy Gene Umberger]]Where is it today? The story is rather convoluted. The American Tobacco Company, Richmond, Virginia, acquired the Demuth collection of some 250 pipes, the “Half-and-Half Collection,” in 1940. In 1957, the collection was donated to the Valentine Museum in Richmond. After a fire in 1963, the collection was placed in storage. In 1991 the Museum sold it to Austria Tabak (AT), Vienna, Austria, adding to the AT Museum’s extensive collection of antiquarian pipes and related smoking utensils. The Columbus pipe was the centerpiece attraction in October 1992, when AT celebrated the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America. In 2001, the AT Museum was shuttered and, in 2002, most of the museum’s inventory were auctioned; however, it retained a quantity of choice pipes and related artifacts. In 2009, to celebrate 225 years of AT—10 of which were now as a subsidiary of Japan Tobacco International (JTI)—Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum (Art History Museum) sponsored “Nicotiana. A Cultural History of Tobacco,” an exhibition with the Columbus pipe as the centerpiece once again. It’s never been stated as to how the original $50,000 valuation was derived, and it has not been offered for sale by JTI, so it’s impossible to know how much it could command today. | ||