Identifying a CAO Meerschaum

[LeafErikson]

Any idea who carved this CAO meer based on the signature?

Irving Korn was the founder of Royal Meerschaum. Would that make this a pipe made personally for him? I can't figure out if that's the case or if that's the signature of the carver. Apparently Irving Korn had an epic collection of meers. Any help is appreciated.

 

[LeafErikson]

Mods you can close this I have an answer. Thank you.

 

[verporchting]

Mods you can close this I have an answer. Thank you.

Noooo, you gotta share! Can’t leave it just hanging there.

 

[jhowell]

Mods you can close this I have an answer. Thank you.

We want to know the answer too - that's how we learn...

 

[LeafErikson]

Irving Korn, founder of Royal Meerschaum, also had a brand called Irving Korn Meerschaum (a subsidiary of Royal Meerschaum?) . It looks like this pipe was made for that brand in '86 and it's unlikely that the 'i.k' signature is from a specific carver, but instead the signature of a carving house, similar to IMP. That seems to be the best thesis. Here are a couple more meers from around the same time with the same signature.

 

[verporchting]

Thank you! Everyone loves a good mystery but not with the last chapter missing!

 

[BigEd]

In the early 80’s I had the pleasure of working at the premiere pipe shop in Nashville which was also the home of CAO. Cano (the Tennessee pronunciation was John-o) was an occasional visitor to the shop. It was a long time ago and I can’t remember if I actually met him or just heard about him but I think I did meet him. He was held in highest regard as a fine gentleman and Beckler pipes were highly respected. I couldn’t afford one at the time. lol.

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

I believe LeafErikson is correct in his statement. Those pipes were probably original carved for the Irving Korn Meerschaum brand, and later distributed to CAO and were fitted with CAO stems prior to going to the retailers.

CAO had several carvers with Beckler being the most prominent in the group. Beckler was the first to put his signature on the CAO pipes starting in 1977, and later Kural signed his pipes. Other carvers would just carve CAO and/or the year on the pipe somewhere, as the pipe they had carved was to be distributed and sold by CAO. As an example, I have a CAO egg and claw that has the copyright symbol followed by 1982 CAO. Though many CAO pipes have no nomenclature, and only have the CAO logo on the stem.

 

[royalmeerschaumpipes]

Jerry Korn, son of Irving Korn, and I'm pleased to say RoyalMeerschaumPipes is still in business. That pipe with the i.k. signature most likely was a special custom-made anniversary pipe. FYI, we recently acquired an estate of about 25 original Bekler pipes. Most of these are brand new with some one of a kind smoked starting to turn that special color that have been thoroughly sanitized, of course.