Pipe whimsey with figure eights

Unknown

1809 · Prattware · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Pipe whimseys, also called puzzle pipes, were made by Staffordshire potters in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. They were said to have been made at the end of the day, with leftover pieces of clay. Though tobacco could be smoked from the pipes, they were primarily intended as decorative pieces of “whimsy,” objects made to stir the imagination and stimulate the mind. This example has an elegant series of figure eights set within tightly wound coils arranged in an oval form.

Artist

Unknown

Date

1809

Medium

Prattware

Culture

British, Staffordshire

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Partial and Promised Gift of Frances F. Bretter and Leo D. Bretter, in celebration of the Museum's 150th Anniversary, 2020