GoedeWaagen

GoedeWaagen is a ceramics firm founded in the Dutch town of Gouda that began with pipemaking more than two centuries ago. Although the name is better known today for decorative ceramics, the firm's starting point was the clay pipe, and its reputation among pipe enthusiasts rests on the double-walled bowls it produced in its later period.

From Guild to Factory

The firm's founding date is taken as 1 January 1779, the day Dirck GoedeWaagen received his master's certificate from the Gouda pipemakers' guild. The company marked this date as its founding year throughout the following two centuries. It is reported that the family's first workshop operated on Keizerstraat, that the business moved after continuing at the same address for several generations, and that later generations also formed ties by marriage with the De Jong family, one of Gouda's established pipemaking houses; neither of these details has been confirmed by independent records.

The business's growth to factory scale began in 1853. That year, Pieter and Tobias GoedeWaagen, from the family's younger generation, bought the "De Star" pottery, whose origins reached back to the 17th century; this facility is the direct ancestor of today's company. Ceramic and pottery production was thus added to clay pipes. According to the account, around 1880, Pieter's son Aart persuaded his father to broaden the range of models, and P. GoedeWaagen & Zoon was founded for this purpose. By the end of the century, the catalogue held hundreds of shapes, and sales had reached well beyond Dutch borders. Due to lack of space, the firm moved to a new facility on Jaagpad in 1909; the year it was granted its royal title is not made clear in sources.

From Clay Pipe to Ceramics

In the first quarter of the twentieth century, the firm broadened its product range by absorbing other ceramics businesses. The most important of these was the takeover of the "De Distel" factory in Amsterdam in 1922-1923; with this acquisition the firm also gained the knowledge of producing decorated, hand-painted ceramics. By the 1930s the name Koninklijke Goedewaagen was counted among the leading brands of Dutch ceramics. Even so, the pipe line was not abandoned: traditional clay pipe shapes and figural bowls, such as human heads and animal figures, were continued. The general background of this production is covered in the entry on the short history of clay pipes.

Baronite Pipes

The double-walled ceramic bowl was introduced by another Gouda firm, Zenith; GoedeWaagen soon adapted the same design to its own production. According to museum records, the firm initially considered calling this hollow-walled bowl "duplex," then crossed the name out in its model book and wrote "baronite" in its place. The line went to market as "Baronite"; advertisements of the day marketed it with an emphasis on a cool, clean smoke and health-friendliness. This emphasis should be read today not as a valid claim but as the marketing language of its era. Baronite bowls are mostly glazed and carry Dutch-themed decorations such as windmills and canal views.

The company opened a branch in Nieuw-Buinen, in Drenthe, in 1963, and moved all production there in 1975. It went bankrupt in 1982; the following year, the ceramics arm was re-established as a new company. The royal title was lost with the bankruptcy and was only regained in 2007. In the period that followed, pipe production ceased to be a regular line, remaining limited to occasional commemorative pipes, such as a series featuring Dutch monarchs. The firm's old clay pipes, together with their stamps and mold records, are among the best-documented examples among clay pipe manufacturers.