I bought these on eBay a couple weeks ago. All from the same seller. From them and the other offerings I gather that they all came from the estate of a guy who loved old pipes and smoked and cared for them pretty well. What really grabbed me was the fine condition of all three cases.
First up is stamped on the shank: C.W. Paris. It has an actual carved bead line. That coupled with the style of the case lettering makes me believe this is a 19th century pipe. The stem is a well done lucite replacement. The band is probably a repair as well. There are 2 tiny hallmarks. I can't make anything of them other than to say it's not English. It's some type of silver as it was tarnished when I got it. Some doofus scratched it to check if it was plated. It's not. I might be able to smooth it out, but left it as is for now. It's really heavy. Probably triples the pipe's weight. It was converted to a push stem. The repair guy did a nice job but was too heavy handed with the amount of metal used. I must say though that even though the pipe is heavy and difficult to clench, it provides a really fine smoke!
Second is a G.Z. French Briar. Probably dates to around 1900 or so. The top of the oval shank is stamped: Hand Made G.Z. & Co. The stem is an obvious replacement for what was probably amber or amberoid material. But it looks pretty good on the pipe. The rim has a bad burn mark, but otherwise it's a nice slim bulldog.
Last up is the real score of the bunch. It's a KB&B Blueline Bakelite short bulldog dating to the teens. It's in fine shape with all original parts. It's pretty! Good smoking pipe too.
First up is stamped on the shank: C.W. Paris. It has an actual carved bead line. That coupled with the style of the case lettering makes me believe this is a 19th century pipe. The stem is a well done lucite replacement. The band is probably a repair as well. There are 2 tiny hallmarks. I can't make anything of them other than to say it's not English. It's some type of silver as it was tarnished when I got it. Some doofus scratched it to check if it was plated. It's not. I might be able to smooth it out, but left it as is for now. It's really heavy. Probably triples the pipe's weight. It was converted to a push stem. The repair guy did a nice job but was too heavy handed with the amount of metal used. I must say though that even though the pipe is heavy and difficult to clench, it provides a really fine smoke!
Second is a G.Z. French Briar. Probably dates to around 1900 or so. The top of the oval shank is stamped: Hand Made G.Z. & Co. The stem is an obvious replacement for what was probably amber or amberoid material. But it looks pretty good on the pipe. The rim has a bad burn mark, but otherwise it's a nice slim bulldog.
Last up is the real score of the bunch. It's a KB&B Blueline Bakelite short bulldog dating to the teens. It's in fine shape with all original parts. It's pretty! Good smoking pipe too.
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