Closter Veilsdorf Pipe

This is an early and quite nice pipe bowl made in the Thuringia region of Germany - most likely by Kloster Veilsdorf in the late 18th century but also bears resemblance to a pipe by the factory of Kassel which is even rarer. Kloster-Veilsdorf was the most important Thuringian factory of the 18th century and they made pipe bowls though I could not find this exact version anywhere. Closter Veilsdorf was founded in 1760 by Prince von Hildburghausen with the help of the arcanist Meyer. In 1795 the factory went to the Duke of Sachsen Altenburg who sold it to the Greiner family who owned most of the other makers in this region by then. The pipe has a very elegant shape to it, has the the typical ribbed design of this region and is hand painted with a nice puce floral arrangement to the front as well as three smaller flowers. The metal mounts are superb with a floral design cut into the lid - one of the nicest I have come across over the years. The piece is unmarked which is common on pipes. It is in great condition with a little wear to the flowers and the top of the lid has some small dents to it though it kind of looks like part of the design. The piece is about 2.25 inches tall, 1.125 inches in diameter and 2.375 inches deep. Please e-mail me for more information or photos.