“Ceci n'est pas seulement une pipe” Update

New info on the date, origins and maker of the pipe. This comes from Lia Schouten, who is a specialist on pipes from Gouda and a contact of my good friend Daan. He went through all the trouble of contacting her for me, so thanks a lot for that — he has recently quit smoking, so he is still a little bit fixated on tobacco-related artefacts.

The pipe probably comes from the late 19^th or early 20^th century and was made by an — apparently — famous French company by the name of “Gambier.” Gambier was a really big player in the pipe-making business, producing over 26 million pipes of various designs each year. There is still a small chance that the pipe comes from Gouda, though, because Gambier sold their old moulds that had gone out of fashion in France to Gouda pipemakers. It seems like the French are “avant-garde” in everything and the rest of the world gets stuck with yesteryears fashion…

Artefact of the Week: “Ceci n'est pas seulement une pipe”

This week I feature an artefact from historic times, which is in the private collection of mr. George Lechler. George Lechler has run a “blasting company” in Jamaica for a long time and because of his work has encountered many different artefacts, collected them and built an interesting and extremely diverse assortment of objects from the recent to distant Jamaican past. I visited him to photograph his collection of Pre-Columbian artefacts, but when he showed me this pipe head I couldn’t resist taking a picture.

One of my grandfathers was a pipe smoker and perhaps because of that I have always been fascinated by them. I don’t really collect them and hardly know anything about them, but I think they are really an underappreciated artefact category. Smoking has been important to many people in many times and still is. Also, rather than disposable smokes like cigarettes or cigars, this is an artefact that sticks with you, making it an important part of your every-day life. Your pipe potentially says a lot about who you are.

So what does this particular pipe say about its previous owner? Well he — perhaps saying that it was a he is cutting corners, but I am just thinking like a male chauvinist here — was certainly a lecherous smoker, but there is more. According to what George told me, he got it from someone who found it in Port Royal. Some of you might know Port Royal from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and indeed — at least this part of the movies is true — Port Royal was a place of ill repute, until it was destroyed by a big quake in 1692. After that Port Royal cleaned up its act.

Very likely the pipe came from overseas — perhaps even from Gouda. It's clay, but well-made, so it would neither have been terribly expensive nor cheap to buy. Judging from the style of the pipe, I am guesstimating it dates from the early to middle 19^th century. So, although we can discount a sexist pirate because of its late date, I have the feeling it must have belonged to a sailor. Makes sense… when you’re out on the open sea with no real women aboard (that’s bad luck), at least you’d have your pipe head woman staring at you in ecstasy. 

Tobacco and sex, they tell me it's a winning combination...

Angus's Artefact of Week 2 2011

Froglegged Lady depicted on the Sevilla la Nueva Pillars at the National Gallery of Jamaica.

Sevilla la Nueva was the first Spanish settlement of importance on the island of Jamaica. It was settled in 1510 AD, but abandoned on the order of the King in 1534. Although it wasn’t really successful as a settlement it represents an important episode in the early colonial history of Jamaica.

Although its locations had been forgotten for more than 4 centuries in the late thirties of the last century local archaeological enthusiast Charles Cotter succeeded in uncovering architectural remains that were probably part of the Governor’s house or of the first stone Christian church in the Americas (paid for by the well-known Peter Martyr of Anghiera who never visited the island, but still was Jamaica's " bishop at a distance").  The column that is this Artefact of the Week is one of several such columns found by Cotter.

From Charles Cotter 1948's publication on the pillars

It is done in a typical European style called platteresque, depicting lush foliage and four Grotesques (mythical creatures). When I visited the National Gallery of Jamaica I immediately noticed that the centre figure had much in common in terms of form and symbolism with the famous frog-legged Mother Goddess that is known as Atabeyra (see last week’s Artefact of the Week for more info). After consulting with my sister (an art history student) it turned out that the form of this Grotesque is unknown from this period in Europe. It also turned out that these pillars were probably crafted by the original inhabitants of Jamaica as part of the services they were required to deliver under the encomienda-system.

We therefore suspect (and will explore this possibility in an upcoming paper) that this figure is indeed a syncretistic variation on the Caribbean frog-legged mother that was done in a style that was recognizable to the Spaniards, but with a symbolism and form that was distinctly Caribbean.

Next week the last of my triptych on the Caribbean frog-legged mother goddess!