Robert Kerkow's Meerschaum Pipe

My Great-grandfather was a pipe smoker

I’m always asking my parents and other relatives if they have any old physical items that may have belonged to one of our ancestors. People rarely do, so imagine my surprise when my dad casually mentioned that he had an antique Meerschaum pipe that belonged to his grandfather!  

I didn’t know what a Meerschaum tobacco pipe was, but came to find out they are exquisitely carved works of art and during the 18th and 19th centuries, at the height of its popularity, the center of Meerschaum pipe production was Vienna, Austria. 

My great-grandfather was born in Minnesota, but his father came to America as a teenager in 1884 with the ship’s manifest noting he was born in Germany, a close neighbor to Austria. Perhaps this is something he brought with him as a reminder of his roots, or maybe his father gave it to him as a parting gift! Imagine if that were true . . . a pipe in perfect condition handed down from father to son for five generations. Unfortunately, I’ll never know for sure.

Presumably the pipe belonged to my great-grandfather, Robert Kerkow, though it’s not clear where he may have gotten it.  Newly married Robert Kerkow with his wife Alice (Devine). 1910. Photo colorized using Ancestry.com colorization tool.

The pipe in my dad’s possession has a fairly simple carving (at least in comparison to others), has never been smoked and from what I can tell, is carved from high quality meerschaum. I’ve done a google image search and have found some similar carvings, but nothing exact in style. In some regards, because of the simplicity, I wonder if it was carved by Robert, his father Charles or maybe even Charles’ father. 

My great-grandfather’s meerschaum pipe. I’m not sure how to date or value it. But I am fairly confident that the meerschaum is high quality because of the way it absorbs water.

Meerschaum is a rare mineral found mainly in Turkey. Soft and porous, it is a mineral mined from the ground. When raw, meerschaum nodules are creamy white or bone colored and resemble frothy sea foam so much, that it was named Meerschaum, which means “sea foam” in German.

The raw mineral hardens with exposure to heat and is dried in the sun or in heated rooms and treated with beeswax throughout the refining process in order to polish and protect it and also to aid in the coloring process. As the pipe is used, it acts as a natural filter for nicotine, and with time, incremental changes in color from yellow to amber to a deep leathery red-brown appear. 

Robert was a pipe smoker and since discovering that he once owned this item, I’ve been desperately searching through old photographs to see if I could find a picture of him with this pipe. Given that this particular pipe has never been used, I’d settle for a photo with any pipe!

What artifacts of your ancestors do you have and how have you traced the lineage?

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Sources:

“Antique, Vintage and Estate Meerschaum Tobacco Pipes” Cynthia Findlay Fine Jewelry and Antiques. Accessed 23 September 2023. 

https://www.cynthiafindlay.com/antique-vintage-estate-decor-and-dining/collectibles/meerschaum-pipes.html#:~:text=Antique%2C%20vintage%20or%20estate%20Meerschaum,are%20debated%20to%20this%20day.