Skull Meerschaum Pipes
Memento mori worked in white stone. Skull carving is an exercise in restraint as much as detail: the form has to read as bone at a glance, which means the planes of the face matter more than surface decoration.
15 pieces
All prices on request
Skull No. 1
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Skull No. 2
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Skull No. 3
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Skull No. 4
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Skull No. 5
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Skull No. 6
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Skull No. 7
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Skull No. 8
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Skull No. 9
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Skull No. 10
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Skull No. 11
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Skull No. 12
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Skull No. 13
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Skull No. 14
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Skull No. 15
Price on requestAbout the Skull collection
A skull is deceptively difficult. Unlike a dragon or a claw, there is very little texture to hide behind — the subject is a set of clean planes and hollows, and the whole thing succeeds or fails on proportion. The eye knows what a skull looks like, so any error in the cheekbone or the brow is obvious immediately.
Meerschaum suits the subject unusually well. The material is naturally bone-white before it colours, and as a piece is used and the patina deepens into the recesses the effect becomes more pronounced rather than less.
Pieces in this collection are photographed from every side, including from above and below, since a skull carving has to hold up from angles that a decorative bowl never has to.
Common questions
- Do skull pipes colour differently?
- The patina tends to deepen in the recesses — the eye sockets and the hollows of the face — which increases the contrast of the carving over time.