White Earth Atelier

Portrait & Figure · 20 pieces

Portrait Meerschaum Pipes

The human face in white earth: bearded sultans, knights, seafarers, figures in a fez, and historical subjects including Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha. Portrait carving is the oldest and most demanding tradition in Eskişehir meerschaum work.

Hand-carved bedouin Turkish block meerschaum pipe, product PORT-11

20 pieces

All prices on request

Hand-carved bacchus Turkish block meerschaum pipe, product PORT-01PORT-016 photographs

Bacchus

$199Hand-carved barbarossa hayreddin pasha Turkish block meerschaum pipe, product PORT-02PORT-0210 photographs

Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha

$499Hand-carved portrait Turkish block meerschaum pipe, product PORT-03PORT-033 photographs

Portrait

$250Hand-carved figure in a fez Turkish block meerschaum pipe, product PORT-04PORT-0412 photographs

Figure in a Fez No. 4

$199Hand-carved figure in a fez Turkish block meerschaum pipe, product PORT-05PORT-056 photographs

Figure in a Fez No. 5

$199Hand-carved figure in a fez Turkish block meerschaum pipe, product PORT-06PORT-067 photographs

Figure in a Fez No. 6

$99Hand-carved figure in a fez Turkish block meerschaum pipe, product PORT-07PORT-077 photographs

Figure in a Fez No. 7

$199Hand-carved figure in a fez Turkish block meerschaum pipe, product PORT-08PORT-087 photographs

Figure in a Fez No. 8

$199Hand-carved knight Turkish block meerschaum pipe, product PORT-09PORT-0912 photographs

Knight No. 9

$199Hand-carved bedouin Turkish block meerschaum pipe, product PORT-10PORT-1012 photographs

Bedouin No. 10

$199Hand-carved bedouin Turkish block meerschaum pipe, product PORT-11PORT-1112 photographs

Bedouin No. 11

$199Hand-carved knight Turkish block meerschaum pipe, product PORT-12PORT-1211 photographs

Knight No. 12

$199Hand-carved figure in a fez Turkish block meerschaum pipe, product PORT-13PORT-135 photographs

Figure in a Fez No. 13

$199Hand-carved pirate Turkish block meerschaum pipe, product PORT-14PORT-144 photographs

Pirate

$199Hand-carved knight Turkish block meerschaum pipe, product PORT-15PORT-1510 photographs

Knight No. 15

$199Hand-carved bearded man Turkish block meerschaum pipe, product PORT-16PORT-1612 photographs

Bearded Man

$199Hand-carved figure in a fez Turkish block meerschaum pipe, product PORT-17PORT-179 photographs

Figure in a Fez No. 17

$279Hand-carved knight Turkish block meerschaum pipe, product PORT-18PORT-1810 photographs

Knight No. 18

$199Hand-carved sultan Turkish block meerschaum pipe, product PORT-19PORT-1910 photographs

Sultan No. 19

$199Hand-carved sultan Turkish block meerschaum pipe, product PORT-20PORT-209 photographs

Sultan No. 20

$199

About the Portrait collection

Portraiture is where meerschaum has no real rival among pipe materials. The stone takes fine, deeply undercut detail and holds it once dry: a beard cut so it stands clear of the jaw, hair with genuine direction, the modelling of a cheek. Briar cannot be worked that way.

The subjects here follow a long Ottoman and Anatolian carving repertoire: turbaned and fezzed figures, bearded elders, knights and mariners. Several are historical. Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha, the sixteenth-century Ottoman admiral, is a recurring subject in Turkish carving and appears in this collection.

Judging a portrait piece from photographs is easier than most people expect, provided the photographs are honest. Look at the eyes, the transition from beard to cheek, and whether the back of the head is carved to the same standard as the front. Every piece here is photographed from all sides, unretouched, precisely so those checks are possible before you inquire.

Where a piece appears to depict a specific modern individual, it is published under a descriptive title while the atelier confirms the subject and any permissions involved. The catalogue does not attribute a likeness it cannot stand behind.

Common questions

Who was Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha?
A sixteenth-century Ottoman admiral, and a traditional subject in Turkish meerschaum portrait carving.
Can I commission a portrait of a specific person?
Ask the atelier. Portrait work is a large part of its output, but likenesses of living people raise permission questions that are handled case by case.