Vintage Ellis Patent Army Mount

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K

klause

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I've developed a bit of a fetish for old pipes, especially army mounts, with Orific stems. These old pipes make me literally tingle, and multiply my smoking pleasure in orders of magnitude that I cannot fully articulate. While it is the pipe itself that is important, it is also nice to know a little of its history and origins - it adds a little more to the experience and makes it more mine.
I've searched late into the night to find out more about this one......
Three-2-e1429082490627.jpg

....but come up with nothing - even the Patent number isn't working for me - unless I'm leaving it until too late at night and my faculties are not fully functioning (wouldn't be a real surprise to anyone who knows me).
I'm assuming this is an English pipe due to the Hallmarks in the picture - once i get my hands on it I'll have a better idea of what I've got.
So, the question is: Does anyone know anything about 'Ellis' patent pipes?

 

ssjones

Moderator
Staff member
May 11, 2011
18,317
11,068
Maryland
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You are on a roll tonight!
"Who Made That Pipe" shows an "Ellis" , L & H Stern/Oppenheimer, USA/ENGL
Not much to go on. That patent number seems very short.

 

huntertrw

Lifer
Jul 23, 2014
5,219
5,338
The Lower Forty of Hill Country
klause:
A systematic search of the Espacenet Website (www.espacenet.com) for British patents issued between 1900 to 1930 revealed what may be the patent for your pipe. If this is the patent, then it was applied for in 1905 under the title "Improvements in Pipes for Smokers," by John William Jacklin and Harold Clifton, joint Inventors and Applicants. The patent was issued on February 22, 1906. Here is a link (Patent No. 17073) to a copy of the original patent document. On that page you may also click on "Descriptions," "Claims," and "Mosaics" to see additional information concerning this patent.
I hope that you find this information to be useful.

 
K

klause

Guest
Al, that's super - thanks very much - judging by the British hallmarks I'm going to go with it being an Oppenheimer jobbie - once in hand I'll know for sure.
HunterTRW, all I can say is, "WOW!!!!!!!"
I've just been reading the patent info and looking at the diagram - this elevates this pipe into a whole new sphere for me - literally a whole new dimension to a little pipe that could so easily be over looked. Its quite staggering.
I've printed it all off so I can keep it at home - it all goes into the very basic knowledge base I have, and adds immensely to the pleasure of the pipe. Thank you - very, very, much - this is amazing - I have a smile on my face a mile wide (not bad considering I'm meant to be working on a financial audit, that I can't get to tally - and suffering brain-ache.
All this gives an immediacy to the history of the pipe and the people in its life, and will make that smoke taste soooooooo much better.
Al, Hunter - thank you. Job done! Bravo!

 
K

klause

Guest
Funny thing Hunter, when rereading the Patent application I noted that the 2 gents were in Brighton, East Sussex - a favourite stomping ground of mine in my teens. I still revisit on irregular occasions - a wonderful town not far from the utterly magnificent South Downs.
On my next trip, I think I'm going to make a point of trying to seek out the roads the gents lived on.
Also, the patent diagram is wonderful to have, and it will be very interesting to compare the pipe to it. The bore of the shank looks massive.
I'm quietly laughing to myself at the way they refer to 'The Charge' being well rammed home. Military men originally? Either way I have a new term for a fill of tobacco ;-)
This pipe just gets better and better.

 

jguss

Lifer
Jul 7, 2013
2,411
6,211
Hunter was kind enough to ask me to weigh in on this, but unfortunately I'm pressed for time this week and can't do more than a surface dig.
What I can say off the bat is that I'm inclined to believe the "Ellis" in question was produced by Oppenheimer, not L&H Stern, because of the obvious English origin (and probable antiquity) of the pipe. Once you get your hands on it hopefully the hallmarks will give you a solid date, but for now I can tell you that Oppenheimer started making the Ellis no later than 1921. My guess, and it's just that, would be that Oppenheimer bought, or perhaps licensed, rights to the Jacklin patent at some point.
As for John W. Jacklin and Harold Clifton (solicitor named in the patent), the latter only outlived the patent filing by two years; Clifton died in 1908 at the age of about 26. If he had any further connection with the business I didn't find it.
John William Jacklin left remarkably little footprint in the records I've quickly checked; I suspect he just was neither very important nor a long-term participant in the trade. John William (b. 1871) was one of two children born to John Jacklin (a railway worker) and his wife Mary. By 1891 John William was working as a domestic servant; a decade later he is a tobacco factor. As you already know, by 1906 he had become a tobacconist, and was still one five years later at the time of the 1911 census. Both John William and his wife, Hannah St Vincent Sorrell (m. 1896) were natives of Islington. They stayed in the London area through the late 1890s, before moving to Sussex by 1901. Off-hand I'm not sure when John William died, although his wife passed away in 1931.
What's interesting is what I didn't find: no early phonebook listings; no city or regional directory listings; no trade listings. I'm certainly not saying none exist; the records I have access to are incomplete. I'm just saying that I didn't find any, and I checked around enough for this to support a preliminary conclusion that John William's business was neither very important or long-lived.
So we end where we began; a bit of a conundrum, with perhaps a little more grounds for speculation.
Jon

 
K

klause

Guest
Jon,once again you leave me speechless! Thank you - you really add an incredible amount to the pleasure of finding and smoking these pipes - it gives me a whole new world of appreciation and understanding.
From the research by yourself, and HunterTRW, this pipe has come alive - and it's historical significance, for me at least, has been elevated into something far above the norm.
Gentlemen, thank you, very much - I am endebted to you. Be assured, when I have finished cleaning this beauty, I shall enjoy that first smoke all the more because of the knowledge you have given me in relation to it - it will be a fine hour in the greenhouse.

 
K

klause

Guest
I have it in my hand now - it's 1907!! Silver mounters mark is JA in 2 conjoined circles - fits exactly to James AITCHINSON (possibly) - Edinburgh - silver marks....
The bottom of the bowl is one giant hole that is simply an extension of the bore of the shank - exactly as in the patent drawing!
It's going to be interesting to see how this actually smokes. Its been well used, so it must be, at the least, a decent smoker.

 
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