Pfeife/Gamsbock motif

**Neil Hever** · 05-31-2013, 10:36 PM

Hi folks, I had some requests for photos of the pipe I use as a re-enactor. It was purchased from an antique dealer for fifty US dollars. I don't know the age of the pipe but it may be from the turn of the century. I have seen photos of Wehrmacht troops using this type of pipe. It has a Gamsbock motif on the bowl. NH

**Espenlaub Militaria** · 05-31-2013 10:36 PM

We also buy and trade your items and full collections!

**Walkwolf** · 05-31-2013, 10:40 PM

Great looking pipe, and a nice accessory to your
overall impression.........!

**Adrian** · 05-31-2013, 10:43 PM

Interesting and nice rustic looking piece Neil.

It looks like it might be made of Blackthorn. I'm sure Ned will be able to tell us.

Is the Gemsebock/Gamsbock/Gämsen/Gams/Gämse/Gemsleder motif inlaid into the wood?

There seems to be a different way of saying 'Chamois' in German for each day of the week..........

**Neil Hever** · 05-31-2013, 10:49 PM

Adrian, It is really well made. I had to replace the tassel but all else is original. The stem seems to be horn and the hardware appears to be brass. NH

**ghp95134** · 05-31-2013, 11:41 PM

I've had similar pipes. As far as I know, the stem is cherry and the bowl briar.

--Guy Power

**HPL2008** · 06-01-2013, 10:26 AM

by Adrian

It looks like it might be made of Blackthorn. I'm sure Ned will be able to tell us.

Is the Gemsebock/Gamsbock/Gämsen/Gams/Gämse/Gemsleder motif inlaid into the wood?

There seems to be a different way of saying 'Chamois' in German for each day of the week..........

Naw; it's really not that complicated. As a native speaker of German and a citizen of a partially chamois-infested state

, allow me to explain:

Gämse is the proper name of the species. Prior to the spelling reform of 1996, the term was spelt Gemse.

Gams is the term used by hunters and also found in regional dialect. (A Bavarian will say Gams, not Gämse.) Hunters also use the collective term Gamswild.

Gamsbock is the male of the species.

And Gamsleder is simply the leather made of those animals' hides.

(Anyway, a nice pipe. Such details really help to bring re-enactments to life and give personality to the enacted character.)

**Adrian** · 06-01-2013, 07:25 PM

Thanks Andreas, I had a feeling you would be along to help out with this one. I must admit I when I can get the horns to sell am undecided what wording to use so I generally list them as Gams or Gamsbock.

**Neil Hever** · 06-08-2013, 11:47 PM

The Gamsbock is etched in metal just like unit symbols applied to caps. It is attached with tiny little nails. NH

**big ned** · 06-09-2013, 12:24 PM

by Adrian

Interesting and nice rustic looking piece Neil.

It looks like it might be made of Blackthorn. I'm sure Ned will be able to tell us.

Is the Gemsebock/Gamsbock/Gämsen/Gams/Gämse/Gemsleder motif inlaid into the wood?

There seems to be a different way of saying 'Chamois' in German for each day of the week..........

The wood most often used for these pipe stems was nearly always hazel, although blackthorn is not an impossibility, and I see where your coming from by looking at the bark, but I don't see the little 'knots' on the wood where the sharp thorns would have been trimmed off, so i'll say hazel.

The bowl is almost certainly briar looking at the grain pattern and it's popularity for use in making pipes due to it's hardness and resistance to heat. Cherrywood is also used sometimes, and looks very similar, as does plum, but on balance having looked at a few different examples i'll go with my original opinion.

Regards, Ned.