Bet You'll Never Guess What I Found

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Aug 1, 2012
4,603
5,160
Just what the title says. Winner gets...nothing really so guess away and no cheating by peeking at the picture sources. Now to clean the bloody thing.
pete-clay-1-600x450.jpg


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Jan 8, 2013
7,493
733
A Peterson that survived World War 2? That would be my guess. I bet it will be really nice cleaned up. :)That's not a meer is it? Hard to tell

 
Aug 1, 2012
4,603
5,160
It is a Peterson. Most likely survived World War II as well. Great guesses so far. It's not, however, a meer. There's one more piece to the puzzle. I'll wait a bit more to give another hint.

 
Aug 1, 2012
4,603
5,160
The fittings, feel, color, hardness and weight tell me that it's not meerschaum. I thought it was meer from the sellers pics but I believe I was wrong (hell, I could be wrong now too...it's something I'm good at).

 
Aug 1, 2012
4,603
5,160
Is it clay?
I believe you are right. No markings on the pipe like the clays were supposed to have but it's got a nickel band marked as you can see and sure feels like clay. Tested a small area in the mortise with a knife blade to see and it did the crumbly thing like clay and not the flake thing like meer.

 

lumberjakpipester

Starting to Get Obsessed
Sep 21, 2012
293
0
Now that is interesting, could it of been used instead of more "traditional" material because of how hard it was to get good briar or Meer during the war?

 
Aug 1, 2012
4,603
5,160
Pete clays were made in 2 eras. The patent era and the WW2-1970s-ish era. They show up in an IRC catalogue ca.1969 here and are known as a substitute for their briar during the war.
Edit: I believe this pipe to be from the latter era.

 
Jan 8, 2013
7,493
733
Needless to say, very cool :)So basically it's likely a WWII era clay Peterson? Some of these old pipes... you cant help but wonder, who was the original owner, what did they do? What were they thinking when they smoked it?

 
Aug 1, 2012
4,603
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So basically it's likely a WWII era clay Peterson?
WWII-1970s is the era I'm guessing. With no background and no markings, I get to guess and leave it to my imagination. I'm finding in my research that many of the later clays were not marked, especially the ones made in London. I love the game of smoking an old pipe and wondering who held it before me and what he/she was thinking.

 

lonestar

Lifer
Mar 22, 2011
2,854
161
Edgewood Texas
Hmmmm. I would have guessed its an African Meer thats had its finish sanded off. Because African Meer is really variable and blotchy, I have concluded the finish is some type of painted on coloring rather than stain or wax. I have sanded several of them down and ended up with a chalky looking somewhat blotchy pipe, similar to this. Its one of these things that is really tough to call without having it in hand, even then may end up as an informed guess.

After studying the 2 pics some more, its not exactly the look of the pipes I've sanded. So you could well be right on the clay.

 
Aug 1, 2012
4,603
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Here's a couple pics of the mortise without the band. I know it probably won't help with an ID but maybe. And again, I could be wrong so if I am it would be nice to know.
dscn2862-600x450.jpg


dscn2861-600x450.jpg


 

lonestar

Lifer
Mar 22, 2011
2,854
161
Edgewood Texas
Still a bit of a tough call, but if the new chips you put in it are bone white underneath that patina I would go with clay. The meer under the surface would look similar to the patina outside. But clay would most likely be white underneath the patina.

 
Aug 1, 2012
4,603
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Thanks gwtwdbss. Yeah, I wouldn't mind those prices for pipes in today's money. Love the pics of the shop too.

 
Aug 1, 2012
4,603
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@lonestar. Yeah, it's white under there. Came with one chip and I'm sad to say I made the other. That's what initially led me to make the call of clay. That and the fact that when my wife handled it she almost dropped it because the feel of unglazed porcelain or clay is like fingernails on a chalkboard to her.

 
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