Rare CPF Briar Pipe

Sounds interesting, please post up some pictures of both the before and after.

There’s an old debate as to whether CPF was ever an independent company, or just created as a brand of KBB. I haven’t looked into it for a few years, but am quite sure KBB claimed to have utilized the CPF logo starting in 1883. Did anyone every settle this by finding evidence of CPF as an independent entity before that time? Just curious...
More to the point, great pipe!

as for the history behind the brand, all i can say is that i'm unaware of any evidence that cpf existed independently before its association with kbb (and i've looked many places where traces should have emerged: contemporary trade journals, nyc city directories through 1883, newspaper archives, etc). it doesn't mean that cpf didn't exist as a company, just that no traces have been found; but then proving a negative is always problematic. on the other hand i do have clear evidence that kbb claimed to have used the brand starting in 1883 (per their trademark application), and it's my belief that any cpf (however marked) produced from 1883 onward was made under kbb's ownership.
as for the pipe, it is indeed unusual and pretty. valuation is tough since it's a pretty specialized item, and setting a price where the seller and buyer population are both small is challenging; by definition pricing in such circumstances is pretty volatile, and depends on who's looking when you want to sell (same as with anything that's rare). i know there are some here who collect pipes from that era and hopefully they'll chime in with an informed opinion.