Description of Pipe Lighters

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 Legs and Feet:  The table is usually protected from the heat by elevating the bowl 1/2 inch (13 mm) or more on a single pedestal or on three or four legs.  These legs, especially in the silver ones, are often quite elaborately decorated.  The feet often use ball, claw-foot, or ball-and-claw designs.  Some legs end in a wooden pad or ball.  One has feet like a cow.  One has legs depicting an Egyptian goddess and another rests on three griffins. One from South America has the elongated octagonal bowl sitting on two llamas, while a boat-shaped one from Spain sits on two lions. The legs of one depict Eskimos (or the South American equivalent), fur parkas and all. Many from Mexico and Holland are attached to trays.  This attachment is often quite ornate, including cast silver fish and various floral and geometric designs. One example has no attached feet or legs of any kind; the bowl and its handle sit loosely in a separate vase-like stand when not being passed around the table.

 Handles:  The fingers are usually protected from the heat by one or two wooden handles.  Most handles are slightly elevated, but the angle is quite variable, from horizontal to 60 degrees.  Most handles attach to the bowl just below the rim, but one has the handle attached to the pedestal midway between the bowl and plinth. Six others have handles coming out of the plinth.  Most silver ones use an applied socket to hold the handle, while most brass/copper ones  have a brass or iron tang, riveted to the bowl, that passes through the handle and ends in a metal loop or ring. Several two-handled ones from Argentina have animal heads for sockets, arranged so that the handles come out of the animal's mouth.  Bail handles were also used, especially when easier portability was needed for use outside or on a boat.  Unfortunately, many footed baskets, compotes, etc. also use bail handles, adding confusion.  The earthenware ones have handles of the same material.  Some of these are shaped like the handles of a teacup, while others are horizontal stubs, similar to those on pipkins.  One handle  is vertical and attaches to both the bowl and base.
 
    The two-handled silver ones are my personal favorites, partly because it was a two-handled one that got me started researching this form and partly because they display so much art, craftsmanship, and originality.  I am still not sure why they have two handles unless it simply makes them easier to pass from one person to another.  I also like them because they are not easily confused with any other form.  The following photo shows my collection of two-handled silver ones.

 
 
     While most pipe lighters have wooden handles, a few (about 7% of my sample) have metal handles, and one has handles of ivory.  I have seen several other metal-handled pieces that might work as pipe lighters but have not counted them among the 250+ I have seen because of the uncertainty about whether they were made for this purpose.  Some of these may have been intended to serve as ashtrays-on-legs.  One from Bolivia or Peru may be a wine tasting cup with legs.  Drawing the line between what is, and is not, a pipe lighter is often difficult because there is so much variety within the form.
 
  Many without handles were also made.  Most of these "no-handled" ones have an attached tray,  usually elevated on small feet just enough for the hand to slide underneath the tray for lifting.  The tray is useful for holding  pipes, cigars, ember tongs, pipe tools, blow pipes, and other accessories.  One maker could not make up his mind; he used a handle and a tray.  Others have neither trays nor handles but some other means of gripping the pedestal or base without touching the hot bowl. Some that are claimed to be pipe lighters provide no way to avoid touching the bowl and I have concluded that the users wore gloves or had very tough hands. However, if the bowl has a liner, the bottom of the bowl may not get unbearably hot.  No-handled lighters are difficult to identify because many other forms are similar.  I would not have recognized four of my 15 no-handled ones had it not been for the intact copper liners.   I was not sure about another one until I found copper stains in the liner-groove and subsequently saw similar ones identified as such in Mexican silver books.  Searching a display for no-handled lighters takes longer because you have to look for more than wooden handles.  The following photo shows part of my collection of no-handled pipe lighters.  Many are even more ornate than these.  The description and history of pipe lighters will continue on the next page.  Go to top of this page and use the "History" link.