This meerschaum savant (a carver of the rock mined in Eskisehir) will grunt and wave his hands in the air each piece he shows you, and is careful to point out that no, YOU will not pay the posted price. For you, cheaper. Also, if you're thinking of getting that meticulously carved face of Sultan Ahmet at another shop, expect to pay as high as the sky. Or ceiling. Or both.
What he lacks auditorily (word? probably not), he makes up for in character. He'll hobble around his cramped shop to pull pieces off the wall, hold them up to the camera for a second, then see something else that catches his eye. Like a child in a toy store, he's filled with excitement surrounded by his creations.
Any hesitation when a pipe is placed in your hands is met with a follow-up newspaper article, showing an gargantuan carving, and a title that reads "The 30 Thousand Dollar Pipe". From what I gleaned with my rudimentary (see: nonexistent) Turkish, he crafted a pipe that was sold for 30 grand. Makes the 50 bucks he wants for the elaborately carved busts of Watson and Holmes seem like a catch. Which it was by the way. Yes, I bought them. How can you turn him down?
I'm not sure if the shop is small, or the sheer volume of carvings hanging from the wall make it seem like that. Either way, if you've ever felt like being dwarfed by pipes, go there, and if you don't think it's possible, go there.
In true Turkish form, tea was brought out after my purchase, and we sat down on worn stools, burning our tongues. He showed me all of the famous people he's sold to, then gestured that he'd given them a good price. Not a ceiling high one.
So I left the shop with England's greatest duo in my bag, a burnt tongue, and some great photos.
You can find them here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2175831&id=94807105&l=d68769b949
Also, a quick note on the meerschaum (from the hastily translated info sheet): It's called sea foam, since it's so light and white when it's pulled from the ground. When first mined, it can be scratched with a fingernail, so it has to be heated. This hardens it, allowing it to be more accurately carved. The most abundant and highest quality meerschaum comes from Eskisehir (I never thought I'd be guilty of plugging the quality of a rock, but I am). Since Turkey has banned the export of it for commercial purposes, the only real, high-grade pipes and other carvings come out of Turkey, specifically the Eskisehir region. So Urhan Gozebe is legit. Let's leave it at at that.
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