Artikel : De oorsprong van de gekroonde letter N als ketelversiering op goedkope kleipijpen
Auteur : Ewout Korpershoek
Jaar : 2020
PKN, Stichting voor Onderzoek historische tabakspijpen Jaarboek 2020
Abstract
The origins of the crowned letter N as a bowl decoration for the lowest priced claypipes
During the 18th and 19th century, many pipe makers in various Dutch towns used the crowned letter N on their lowest cost products, aimed at the mass market. It was one of the most popular and widely used decorations. There have been many speculative suggestions as to the origin of this mark such as being short for ‘Netherlands’ or ‘Napoleon’, or being a reference to the year letters as used by silversmiths from the town of Schoonhoven. Recent archive research into the origins of the Schoonhoven clay pipe makers revealed that the letter refers to the family name of its first user, Gerrit Nobel. During the late 17th and early 18th century the pipe makers from the nearby city of Gouda started dominating the domestic and international markets focusing the majority of their efforts on their unique, high quality pipes which provided the highest possible income. This resulted in a lack of cheap, affordable pipes for the working class. The Schoonhoven pipe makers reacted quickly by concentrating on producing pipes for this lowest end market. The pipe makers from the Nobel family were amongst the first to capitalize on this opportunity, and their tremendous success lead to their mark, ‘the crowned N’, becoming synonymous with the product category of short stemmed, affordable pipes for the masses. Descendants of the first Nobel pipe maker dominated the Schoonhoven pipe industry during the 18th century. Various grandsons of Gerrit also established themselves in the city of Gouda and their descendants were active as pipemakers in that town until the 19th century. This article is based on contents
from a recent publication by the author, which provides many new insights and information about the Schoonhoven clay pipe makers.