c. 1890
Oil on canvas, 18 x 8 3/4”
Signed lower right

The Clay Pipe

John Haberle (1856-1933)

The New Haven, Connecticut, artist John Haberle specialized in still-life paintings of mundane objects rendered with incredible realism—a style known as trompe l’oeil, or “fool the eye.” Here, an old-fashioned clay “churchwarden’s” pipe with a long stem hangs from a worn wooden panel next to a pouch of tobacco. Despite such seemingly straightforward realism, Haberle’s still lifes often subtly allude to contemporary issues or philosophical considerations about illusion and reality. The brand of tobacco depicted here has been identified as “Duke’s Mixture,” a variety so inexpensive that it was said to be made of factory floor sweepings. Around this time, the phrase “duke’s mixture” entered American English as an expression meaning an odd combination or chaotic, confused situation. Haberle may be playing on the baffling nature of trompe l’oeil painting itself, a “duke’s mixture” that tempts viewers to question what they see.