Made in Belgium in the mid-to-late nineteenth century, this magnificently carved meerschaum pipe features an elegantly carved amber stem, and a grotesque bowl wrought in the shape of a grinning skull. Though not of Swedish make, the pipe is said to have been owned by Oscar II (1829-1907), King of Sweden and Norway around the turn of the twentieth century. It was donated to the museum in 1947.
The first documented use of meerschaum in the making of pipes came in the early 1700s. A typically white or cream-colored mineral, meerschaum was highly valued for producing a flavorful smoke. In addition, because meerschaum is so naturally soft and porous, it can be easily carved into a nearly unlimited number of forms and likenesses, including the skull seen here.