What is a Calabash Meerschaum Pipe?
Technically, a calabash meerschaum pipe is a pipe, carved from meerschaum that mimics the shape of a Calabash Pipe. This shape is characterized by a deeply bent shank and stem that ends in a upturned bowl with a meerschaum or porcelain cup. The body of the pipe and shank are traditionally made from African Gourd or turned from woods like mahogany. A calabash meerschaum pipe is one that has been constructed entirely of meerschaum to resemble the shape of a calabash pipe; including the distinctive “lipped” rim. See the example at right of a calabash meerschaum pipe. Most people, when referring to a meerschaum calabash pipe, are more accurately talking about a traditional Calabash Pipe with a meerschaum cup for the combustion of pipe tobacco.
