Ismet Bekler (for CAO) 1983 Limited Edition “The Moon, The Sun” Estate Block Meerschaum Pipe, Unsmoked

Description

Founded in 1964 by Turkish engineer Cano A. Ozgener, CAO was one of the most renowned importers of meerschaum pipes in the last half-century, thanks in no small part to their close affiliation with master carvers such as Ismet Bekler. Emerging out of Ozgener’s own dissatisfaction with the quality of Turkish-made meerschaum pipes of the time, Ozgener began by applying his engineering background in modifying these pipes to improve their overall construction. Upon seeing how well these modified meerschaums were received by local tobacconists, Ozgener decided to work with Turkish meerschaum carvers in the production of their pipes, leading to the creation of the immensely popular CAO Meerschaum brand. At the end of the 2000s CAO was acquired by Scadinavian Tobacco Group, and has since ceased its involvement in meerschaum pipes.

Meerschaum pipes are not typically associated with limited edition releases like, say, the Dunhill Christmas Pipe or the Peterson St Patricks’s Day offerings. But Ismet Bekler was far from a typical meerschaum carver, and his profound mastery of the medium led to an interesting collaboration with his distributor, CAO, between the late 1970s and the turn of the millennium. Bekler was tasked with creating an annual series of special meerschaum pipes, with each release limited to just 100 pipes total (and, in some years, fewer than that). Some years saw several different releases, whereas others seem to have featured just the one.

There are two limited edition CAO-Bekler collaborations that I am aware of for 1983. One was a playful tribute to Ludwig van Beethoven, titled “Beethoven’s Ninth,” which, along with a bust of the composer with a large ear growing out of the back of his head, referenced the Symphony No. 9 and Beethoven’s near-completely deaf state at the time it was written. The other pipe, seen here, had a rather different theme. The principal motif was of the moon and the sun, as its title indicates, with each taking an anthropomorphized form and being positioned “back to back,” as it were, with their irreconcilable gaze reflecting the dichotomy of night and day.

This pipe is completely unsmoked and comes with its original case.

Details:

Length: 6.2″ / 157.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.93 / 23.62mm

Bowl Depth: 1.99″ / 50.54mm

Weight: 3.0oz / 86g