Eskişehir Meerschaum Museum () is a handicraft museum in

Odunpazarı Odunpazarı (literally "firewood market" in Turkish language, Turkish) is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Eskişehir Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,120 km², and its population is 422,423 (2022), 47% of the provincial popu ...

district of

Eskişehir Eskişehir ( , ; from 'old' and 'city') is a city in northwestern Turkey and the capital of the Eskişehir Province. The urban population of the city is 821 315 (Odunpazari + Tebebasi), with a metropolitan population of 921 630. The city is l ...

, Turkey, exhibiting various items handmade of

sepiolite Sepiolite, also known in English by the German name meerschaum ( , ; ; meaning " sea foam"), is a soft white clay mineral, often used to make tobacco pipes (known as meerschaum pipes). A complex magnesium silicate, a typical chemical formula ...

(Meerschaum). Sepiolite or Meerschaum is a soft white

clay mineral Clay minerals are hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates (e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4), sometimes with variable amounts of iron, magnesium, alkali metals, alkaline earths, and other cations found on or near some planetary surfaces. Clay minera ...

, which is mainly used to handicraft

tobacco pipe A tobacco pipe, often called simply a pipe, is a device specifically made to smoke tobacco. It comprises a chamber (the bowl (smoking), bowl) for the tobacco from which a thin hollow stem (shank) emerges, ending in a mouthpiece. Pipes can range ...

s called Meerschaum pipes. The opaque and off-white, grey or cream colored mineral is soft when extracted. However, it hardens on exposure to solar heat or when dried in a warm place. This feature allows it to give a permanent shape after carving it at soft state. Meerschaum deposits are found in Eskişehir region, generally at first rank in the world, in depths up to . The exhibited items of the museum were collected by Eskişehir Governorship during the International Meerschaum Festival, Meerschaum handicraft competitions and exhibits held in Eskişehir since 1998. Around 400 items handmade by 60 artisans were left to Odunpazarı Municipality. The museum was established by Odunpazarı Municipality inside the Kurşunlu Complex at Odunpazarı as the world's only in its kind in 2008.

References

Museums in Eskişehir Tourist attractions in Eskişehir Province Odunpazarı Museums established in 2008 2008 establishments in Turkey Turkish handicrafts {{Turkey-museum-stub