Antique Churchwarden French reading pipe in sepiolite meerschaum

Description: Antique and elegant reading pipe (18 cm) made in France, in Lyon, in the late 1800s. Also known as Churchwarden: these pipes have the characteristic of having a very long and slightly curved mouthpiece that cools the smoke before it is savored. Accompanied by its original case (20 cm; photo no. 4), it is made of meerschaum or sepiolite, a mineral discovered in 1847, originally from the Black Sea (Turkey). Meerschaum is a suitable material for the construction of pipes: being very porous it does not change the taste of the tobacco. Also called Meerschaum Pipe, a German name to in fact identify a meerschaum pipe, a material that is often found floating in the Black Sea. The end of the mouthpiece is in amber (3 cm): equipped with a metal chain like the chiseled metal finishes that we find in the two ends of the burner. It is in excellent condition.