Fabulous 19th Century Japanese Kiseru Pipe with Horn Case and Leather Pouch

Fabulous 19th Century Japanese Kiseru Pipe with Horn Case and Leather Pouch

The Kiseru Pipe has carving to the metalwork and the central Piece is made from bamboo. It comes with its original case which looks to be made from bone and the original leather case which has a gold metal floral decoration to the front

The Pipe measures approx 20cm in length

A beautiful item for the collector

History of the Kiseru
The origin of the Japanese word kiseru is uncertain. The most common explanation is that it would come from the Cambodian word "khsier" meaning "pipe". But nothing truly attests it, and others think it could come from the Portuguese "que sorver" ("which is drawn"). There is also the same problem etymology for the word "rau", which refers to the main bamboo pipe of a kiseru. Some say that this term would come directly from the country name of "Laos" neighboring country of Cambodia which bamboo were used to make pipes. While for others, it would also come from Portuguese or Spanish "rabo" ...

How it all began
Portuguese introduced tobacco in Japan in the second half of the sixteenth century. The Japanese were particularly surprised to see the Portuguese smoking pipes and spitting out smoke and would have exclaimed "The Southern Barbarians have a fire in their belly!"

But tobacco was quickly adopted by the Japanese people and by the end of the sixteenth century, the kiseru was already used to smoke tobacco in Japan and remain there the only way to smoke tobacco for the next three centuries, until the Meiji Restoration (1868), when cigarettes arrived in Japan and became very popular.

The Edo period (1603-1868) that precedes the development of cigarettes in Japan was the heyday of kiseru. From the early seventeenth century when the bans were lifted, tobacco was already well established in all classes as a luxury good. It was at this time that really developed the use of kiseru and the socalled "kizami tobacco", a very finely shredded tobacco.

In the Edo period there was in the high society the "Tobacco Ceremony" or "The Way of Tobacco" (tabako-dō 烟草道). As for the tea ceremony, for example, rules of politeness and decorum were fixed. It was the "good manners to give and receive the kiseru"