Antiques – Collecting for Fun: Pipes, Monks and Cupboard Cups

There are so many collectibles out there that from time to time in this column I do a collectible roundup to show you some of the things and to suggest some things you might consider collecting.
Collecting can be serious business or just for fun, and one collectible that can be both is the pipe. Pipes have a long and fascinating history that makes for interesting research. But they can also clever, witty and whimsical works of folk art.
Among the most collectible pipes are the Meerschaums. These are collected for the beauty and artistry of their carvings. What is being carved is sepiolite, a mineral found around the world, but especially in the Black Sea and in Turkey. The work Meerschaum is German for sea foam, and refers its white-cream-gray color.
To learn more about pipe collecting, there are various sites that will come up for you when you Google “collectible pipes,” including www. pipesmagaine.com. There is also a book from Schiffer Publishing, called “The Complete Guide to Collecting Antique Pipes” by Benjamin Rappaport.
Instead of collecting one type of object, like pipes, there’s always the option to collect various different objects with a unifying theme. For that, you might consider things in the shape of or featuring pictures of monks, an extremely popular motif in the late 19th Century.
The tradition started in the Munich, a city that began as a monastery and whose name in German is “Munchen,” the German work for monks. Since the monks were noted for their beer and wine making, naturally the most popular items in the monk motif are beer steins, cider mugs, beer and wine pitchers and decanters.
There are also other monk items that might decorate a table, bar, den or office, like match or toothpick holders, ashtrays, napkins, candlesticks, lamps, plates, and prints. All of these were made in a variety of materials.
The monks depicted on these items usually were not particularly pious; they were often jolly, intemperate, and sometimes downright sinister. In a photo with this column there is a row of painted plaster monk heads representing the capital sins. The object is a lintel (above the door) plaque, which would hold scents to help with pipe and cigar smoke.
One collecting tradition that goes back to the early 19th Century is collecting cupboard cups. That might be (doubtfully) how the cupboard got its name. There is so much beautiful china in the world for those who want to notice it, but you can only have so many dinner sets.
The two-handled soups, either the teacup-size broth cup (also called a consume) or the wider rim cream soup from any set makes a wonderful example of the artistry of the pattern. These were collected in singles or pairs. And you always have something to hunt for in the shops. Just set a price range. You can find these cups from $15-50, but you can also spend hundreds on some very old, rare and exquisite Meissen, Derby, Coalport, Sevres, etc.
Those cups were made for soup and not to be collected, but there are plenty of items in the shops that were specifically made to be collected, like Hummels, Royal Doulton Tobies, Lladros, etc. These is not the great demand for these things today that there was when they were made. That’s good news for buyers, who can pick them up at bargain prices.
Arthur Schwerdt, a certified appraiser, is the author of “The Antique Story Book: Finding the Real Value of Old things,” and co-owner of The August Farmhouse Antiques on Route 9 in Swainton. Send your comments, questions and appraisal requests to aschwerdt@cmcherald.com.