Clay Tobacco Pipes in Europe from the Late Sixteenth to the First Half of the Nineteenth Century: Geographical and Cultural Contexts

Abstract

The aim of the article is to present a summary of the history of clay tobacco pipes in Europe and to explore their cultural and geographical context.
In post-medieval archaeological sites, clay tobacco pipes are quite common finds. The first evidence of tobacco in Western Europe dates from the late sixteenth century, during the Age of Discovery. The industry of tobacco pipe manufacturing started in the early seventeenth century, and English pipe makers and smokers were the innovators of the new habit and style of smoking. Soon after that, Dutch cities like Amsterdam and Gouda became major centres in producing and selling clay tobacco pipes. Through the Baltic and Mediterranean harbours and then along land routes, tobacco spread across Europe as a product of colonial trade and a new habit of smoking as such. The Thirty Years’ War and Northern Wars played a crucial role in the consumption of tobacco, because soldiers rapidly accepted and spread the new culture of smoking.
In the eastern and south-eastern European region, tobacco and pipes appeared in the early seventeenth century. Despite this fact, smoking as an incorrect habit was banned or restricted in Russia and the Ottoman Empire in effect of the rulers’ decisions. Only in the late seventeenth century all the prohibitions of tobacco consumption were lifted. At this time, clay tobacco pipes manufactured by the locals predominated in the regions of Eastern Europe. One-piece tobacco pipes with long stems manufactured by the Dutch and the English were still in use but in smaller quantities than locally produced pipes. These, so often called composite, stub-stemmed, or ‘chibouk’ pipes, were produced in very different shapes and styles. Scarce marked specimen of these pipes and the lack of historical sources show that production was mostly regional. Otherwise, it is not uncommon to discover that some models of or ornaments on the pipes are widespread from the Baltic region to Northern Africa. The history of smoking and its uneven spread across Europe from the late sixteenth to the first half of the nineteenth century were caused by various reasons. The article focuses on the different contexts of this subject: pipe making traditions in the Early Modern times were impacted by critical or indifferent view of religion, political decisions, economical and geographical situation, different art styles, and the like.