Up to an hour
Amsterdam Pipe Museum
Get an overview of smoking pipes throughout the ages from within this authentic 17th-century canal house
What you'll do
The exhibition covers a period of 2,500 years and includes exciting objects from five continents. Take a private tour through the collector’s house for an unexpected experience!
The museum’s display contains the pipe’s origins in Central-American, as far back as 500 BC. The collection includes varieties like the famous Gouda churchwarden and artistic pipes carved in meerschaum and wood. German porcelain pipe bowls with hand-painted miniatures and French pipes with portraits of famous contemporaries lifting up a simple implement into a conversation piece.
The museum presents smoking paraphernalia from over sixty countries: Turkish water pipes, African ceremonial pipes, finely-carved Maori pipes, and precious Chinese opium pipes. In short, this is the place to experience the global smoking culture.
The museum shop offers a great assortment for collectors and smokers. The shop’s smoking supplies range from souvenirs to handcrafted designs in prices from 10 to 1,000 euros.
Facts
The pipe collection represents the life’s work of a serious collector who spent fifty years assembling the world's most extensive pipe collection. He opened his home as a museum!
You can see the oldest pipe, excavated in Ecuador, formerly smoked by a tribe living around 550 BC.
When the Dutch Queen made a visit to the Gouda pipe works in 1897, the factory-made a showpiece consisting of twenty long clay pipes twisted and interwoven into an artwork. This item is preserved and shown as the highlight in the collection.
The most exquisite pipe is a yellow meerschaum pipe with a gilt silver helmet as a cover, shown together with its red morocco leather case. The pipe was made in 1807 in order of Napoleon.
What's included
Peruse the private collection of one of the world's most dedicated pipe collectors
See the oldest known pipe in the world, thought to date from 550 BC
Where you'll be
Prinsengracht 488, Amsterdam, NLHow to get there
Tram 2, 11, 12 to Prinsengracht; OR 1, 5, 7, 19 to Leidseplein
Operating hours
Monday - Saturday: 12PM - 6PM
Closings & holidays
King's Day (April 27), New Year's Day and Christmas Day
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