CPW Calabash Pipes

CPW Calabash Pipes, full name Calabash Pipes World, is a Turkish workshop operating in the Odunpazarı district of Eskişehir whose main line of work is making gourd-bodied calabash pipes. The pipe it produces arises from the union of two separate materials: a body made from a dried gourd imported from South Africa, and a bowl hand-carved from block meerschaum that seats into its mouth.

Founding and Records

The workshop's promotional texts state that production began in 1994. This date rests solely on the manufacturer's own statement; it is not supported by a trade registry entry or an independent archival record. In internet archives, the earliest record for the brand's domain name goes back to 2016; the phrase "since 1994" only begins appearing in later product texts. The founder's name does not appear in publicly available sources.

Preparing the Gourd

The calabash's body is shaped not in the workshop but in the field. According to the maker's account, the gourd is planted in September; in December, while the fruit is still soft, the neck section is bent by hand into the desired curve. After a wait of seven weeks, the harvested gourds have their necks cut off, and the body is boiled in a copper cauldron for twelve hours. Boiling separates the outer skin and also gives the gourd its honey color. The bodies are then dried first on racks in the sun for a few days, then in the shade for three days. Because each gourd arrives with its own pattern and size, no two bodies are ever exactly alike; the bowl, too, is prepared to match the body.

The Stone

The workshop states that it extracts the stone it uses from its own quarry in Eskişehir. The city is one of the few places where pipe-grade meerschaum is found, and its carving tradition has continued for generations.

CPW's promotional material particularly emphasizes the distinction between block meerschaum and pressed meerschaum. Block stone is carved directly from a single piece of sepiolite taken from the ground and retains its porous structure. Pressed stone, on the other hand, is obtained by kneading the dust and shavings that accumulate during carving with a binder and compressing them in a mold; this method largely closes the pores in the resulting body. The workshop states that it works only with block stone and does not use pressed stone in its calabash pipes.

Product Range

Gourd-bodied models are divided by degree of curve into full bend and half bend. Product listings also include a calabash group referred to as "Edwardian," mahogany- and oak-bodied calabash variants, and models suited to 9 mm filters; the general logic of these arrangements is covered in the pipe filters and systems article.

Independent of the gourd, classic shapes carved directly from block stone are also made: billiard, bulldog, canadian, and apple examples, along with long-stemmed churchwarden models, and figural bowls carved with Topkapı and Ottoman motifs can be counted among these. Replacement meerschaum bowls fitted to metal-bodied system pipes such as Falcon and Kirsten, mouthpieces, stone filters, and cigarette holders are also found in the same range.

Few workshops still make the gourd-bodied pipe together with a block meerschaum bowl; CPW is counted among the makers keeping this type alive.