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“We quickly discovered I was pretty good at it, picking it up from the get-go - and the rest, as they say, is history.”
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When my dad came home and told me about it, I was instantly intrigued - plus the artist in me loved how they looked, so I made contact with Rex, who invited me to spend a day with him to learn more about it. “My dad is a long-time member of Newport History Society and at one of their meetings, a local man called Rex Key gave a talk about clay pipe making. I was considering doing an apprenticeship in some form of craft but it was through complete coincidence that I was introduced to clay pipe making,” said Oliver. “I’ve always had a keen interest in art and history - and wanted to make a living out of doing something I enjoyed but I wasn’t quite sure what exactly. Oliver, who has been making pipes for four years, was first introduced to the craft by sheer chance. While most of his peers are fresh out of university or still figuring out what they want to do with their lives, Oliver is doing his utmost to keep the bygone craft alive by encouraging young people to take up endangered heritage skills to ensure they are passed down to future generations.Īlthough clay pipes are now chiefly contained to historic collections, it would be a “grave shame to allow the craft to die out”, says the young artisan from Newport, Shropshire, who will be demonstrating his craft at Broseley Pipeworks every Thursday and Saturday, starting from 28 July through to 10 September.
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Sell as a set.Clay tobacco pipes probably conjure up images of older gentleman in wingback chairs puffing away while perusing the Times - so it usually comes as a shock when 24-year-old Oliver Meeson reveals he’s probably the last clay tobacco pipemaker in Britain. Size of the pipes varies from 12,0cm to 8,5cm. Patterns such as the bird claw holding an egg or sculptured faces became relatively common.Ī stunning small collection of Victorian era (c.1837-1901) clay pipes. In Victorian period bowls were often highly ornate. Clay pipes had a short life expectancy and, once broken, were of no other use and discarded. After firing the mouth piece was painted with wax to prevent the smoker's lips from sticking to it. The pipes are the left to dry before being fired in batches in a kiln. A stopper is then inserted to form the bowl and the wire pushed through into the bowl. A thin, oiled wire was inserted along the stem and the dummy was pressed in a pre-oiled, two part mould. The basic form is made by rolling out a ball of clay into a long "dummies", which will form the stem, with bulb at one end. The preferred material for pipes was kaolin or pipeclay, which fires to a white colour and is found in only certain locations. Most pipes were produced locally in small, family run workshops using regional styles and diffrent shapes and qualities were produced for different markets. In the Netherlands the city of Gouda was a major production centre. Clay pipes have been used in Britain and Netherlands from the late 16th century onwards and exported all around the world in great quantities. Early pipes tend to have small bowls as tobacco was relatively expensive at the period. London, England, 19th century, private collection from Finland.Ĭeramic pipes, made of moulded and then fired clay, were used almost universally by Europeans between the introduction of tobacco in the 16th century.