Briar Pipe With Voltaire Head, Dalloz Henry St-claude Collection, Guyot 19th Century

Antique briarwood pipe with an amber stem, depicting the head of Voltaire* (after Houdon), signed by the maker Henry Dalloz** St-Claude, from the private collection of Gilbert Guyot***, dating from 1864, 19th century. This pipe is in good overall condition, superb quality. Signed, see photos. It comes directly from the collection of the Parisian pipe maker Gilbert Guyot. We have other pipes from this collection for sale on this site. Note: some scratches and wear consistent with age, see photos. *Voltaire François-Marie Arouet, known as Voltaire (1694-1778), was a writer and philosopher who left his mark on the 18th century and occupies a special place in French collective memory. He embodies the figure of the intellectual committed to truth, justice, and freedom of thought. An emblematic figure of the French Enlightenment, leader of the philosophical party, his name remains linked to his fight against "the infamous," his term for religious fanaticism, and for progress and tolerance. He was, however, a deist, and his ideal remained that of a moderate and liberal monarchy, enlightened by the "philosophers." He also worked with the enlightened elites of Enlightenment Europe, using his immense renown, and single-handedly defended the victims of religious intolerance and arbitrary rule in cases he made famous. ** Henry Dalloz: Around 1863, Joseph-Henry Dalloz (known as Dalloz-Dessertine) invented a pipe-carving machine which, operating on the principle of the pantograph, produced 14 pipe heads simultaneously from a single model. With the help of a blacksmith, he built it himself. Documented in 1870 in the former Tomachon cotton mill, then the Druard woodturning factory and later the Reymondet brothers' factory, the machine passed on February 21, 1905, to Dalloz's nephew, Charles Dessertine. Sold in 1943 to the Aschenbrenner & Co. pipe-making company, located at 19 rue Carnot, it was modernized: the wooden pulleys were replaced with metal ones, leather belts were installed, etc. After the factory closed in 1961, the machine was acquired on December 12, 1984, by the guild of master pipe makers. Since 1986, it has been one of the centerpieces of the Pipes and Diamonds Exhibition. Two other machines of this type are known: one, almost identical, was sold by Mr. Aschenbrenner to the Tobacco Museum in Bergerac (Dordogne) in 1988; the other was made on its model by the Lamberthod family at the beginning of the 20th century and is currently located in the hamlet of Etables, in Saint-Claude, in the workshop of a pipe maker. *** Gilbert Guyot. Author of two essential books for French pipe enthusiasts, "Le Pipier de Paris" (The Paris Pipe Maker) in 1984 and "Pipiers français, Histoire et Traditions" (French Pipe Makers, History and Traditions) in 1992, he began his career at the age of 14 in 1961 in the workshop of his father, Henri Guyot, a Parisian pipe maker who had himself succeeded the Parisian pipe maker Auguste Goltsché at 7 Avenue de Clichy in Paris in 1937. Auguste Goltsché was the son of François Goltsché, a pipe turner from Vienna, who settled in Paris in 1883. He successively bought several pipe shops in Paris, including L'Indien and then L'Oriental. His son Auguste opened two shops, one in the Passage des Panoramas and the other at 7 Avenue de Clichy. Upon his death in 1937, H. Guyot took over the shop at 7 Avenue de Clichy, under the name "Bloc d'Ambre" (a name that was abandoned when the shop reopened in 1945). Besides writing two extremely interesting books, Gilbert Guyot became a pipe maker in 1961 with his father, Henri; together, they crafted very fine pipes. When his father retired in 1969, he took over the shop, running it until 1995. Gilbert Guyot retired to Trégastel. Dimensions: Height 7 cm, Width 6 cm, Length 16.5 cm. F30 1262. All photos are available at: www.antiques-delaval.com