A lovely old cutty

[Alanon]

Here’s one of my recent favourites, a meer cutty I know nothing about. Maybe some resident experts would be able to chime in with their knowledge and add some context?

I fell in love with the colouring and the shape, to me she’s one of the nicest meers I’ve come across. I presume the shank and bottom are so dark because of oxblood, but i don’t have enough experience to be able to tell for certain. Regardless, the rest of the bowl seems to have coloured naturally and what a colour it is!

Sadly there’s no label on the inside of the weathered case, so no manufacturer, no hallmarks on the silver ferrule, but if I had to guess by the ferrule, my gut says she’s from around 1900-10 or later? Of course, she’s been repaired so the ferrule’s age could be a red herring...

Interestingly, both the stem and shank appear to have been broken at some point due to their jagged lines, and the assembled pipe shank and stem are about 1cm shorter than the case accommodates. Whether the bit was replaced or is original, I have no clue.

Anyway, the stem itself is strange and feels strange under the tooth. It’s not amber, doesn’t exactly feel like bone but maybe closest to it. Certainly doesn’t feel plastic. It’s smooth but not shiny, there’s some teeth-marks that have created a dimple or flattening of on the stem, so obviously the material isn’t super hard...

The stem appears black, but after some cleaning and under intense light I can see a fascinating red-speckling, a sort of mottled look I’ve never seen (pic below).

One working theory of mine is that maybe the pipe was/is entirely made out of one piece of meerschaum, that the "stem" is actually meer, and that just the ferrule was added for the repair?

I also tried to take some better, closer pictures of the meer, but the flash really reflects of the smooth walls and spoils the detail. Hopefully what I’ve taken is good enough.

 

[MisterBadger]

Here’s one of my recent favourites, a meer cutty I know nothing about. Maybe some resident experts would be able to chime in with their knowledge and add some context?

I fell in love with the colouring and the shape, to me she’s one of the nicest meers I’ve come across. I presume the shank and bottom are so dark because of oxblood, but i don’t have enough experience to be able to tell for certain. Regardless, the rest of the bowl seems to have coloured naturally and what a colour it is!

Sadly there’s no label on the inside of the weathered case, so no manufacturer, no hallmarks on the silver ferrule, but if I had to guess by the ferrule, my gut says she’s from around 1900-10 or later? Of course, she’s been repaired so the ferrule’s age could be a red herring...

Interestingly, both the stem and shank appear to have been broken at some point due to their jagged lines, and the assembled pipe shank and stem are about 1cm shorter than the case accommodates. Whether the bit was replaced or is original, I have no clue.

Anyway, the stem itself is strange and feels strange under the tooth. It’s not amber, doesn’t exactly feel like bone but maybe closest to it. Certainly doesn’t feel plastic. It’s smooth but not shiny, there’s some teeth-marks that have created a dimple or flattening of on the stem, so obviously the material isn’t super hard...

The stem appears black, but after some cleaning and under intense light I can see a fascinating red-speckling, a sort of mottled look I’ve never seen (pic below).

One working theory of mine is that maybe the pipe was/is entirely made out of one piece of meerschaum, that the "stem" is actually meer, and that just the ferrule was added for the repair?

I also tried to take some better, closer pictures of the meer, but the flash really reflects of the smooth walls and spoils the detail. Hopefully what I’ve taken is good enough.

View attachment 436819
View attachment 436827View attachment 436825View attachment 436826

Nice little pipe, and pretty unique in the present form to which it has evolved, I'd say... that pipe belongs - at a guess - somewhere in the second half of the nineteenth century. The bottom of the bowl and the shank have, I think, coloured naturally, as I have one similar - but mine has a shank about twice the length, and I suspect yours has been broken off short and repaired with that ferrule. The mouthpiece will originally have been amber which gets brittle with age (I needed to have mine replaced), and the one you have there appears to me to be an early synthetic replacement of some kind - perhaps a composite including crushed amber. But I'm no expert - @condorlover1 is your man for the cutty Meers.

 

[ashdigger]

The pipe is fumed, you can see the black ring at the rim.

Probably dates from 1890-1905

The stem material wouldn’t be Meerschaum.

Most likely Bakelite or red amber.

Get that thing restemmed and enjoy it!!

 

[Alanon]

Thanks for the input, @MisterBadger!

I have seen older cutty’s with those longer stems, but seem to remember that there were also shorter varieties. Do you think this one may have originally come with a long stem like yours and was then shortened? The case that came with this cutty fits it perfectly, apart from that 1cm of space at the end. Though I suppose it is possible to shorten a case, this one does not appear to have been tampered with. Then again I suppose having a new case made for a pipe that just went through major surgery is also no big deal.

The ferrule looks to me to be sort of Edwardian, which is why I gave my crack at placing it around the 1900s. But that just might have been when it was repaired. The mouthpiece still has me stumped. The image I posted really shows the strange composition, but the camera has produced a result my eyes can’t really perceive. To the naked eye the mouthpiece is practically black.

 

[Alanon]

The pipe is fumed, you can see the black ring at the rim.

Probably dates from 1890-1905

The stem material wouldn’t be Meerschaum.

Most likely Bakelite or red amber.

Get that thing restemmed and enjoy it!!

At first blush, amber has a more glassy feel to the tooth than this material, though who knows... On the other hand bakelite has a more plasticky ring on the tooth. But if I had to pick one, I’d probably lean towards some weird bakelite composite having that strange feel and even stranger colour properties.

Get that thing restemmed and enjoy it!!

Don’t you worry, it’s been put to work even in this condition.

 

[OzPiper]

Nice pipe which deserves to be re-stemmed
It may have had an amber stem originally and the current one is a replacement

@ashdigger or @condorlover1 should be able to suggest a repairman who can take that on

Happy smokes

 

[OzPiper]

Thanks for the input, @MisterBadger!

Do you think this one may have originally come with a long stem like yours and was then shortened? The case that came with this cutty fits it perfectly, apart from that 1cm of space at the end.

A photo of the pipe in its case would be helpful.

The fact that it "fits it perfectly, apart from that 1cm of space...." is a good indication that it is missing a 1cm piece of its shank

 

[Alanon]

A photo of the pipe in its case would be helpful.

The fact that it "fits it perfectly, apart from that 1cm of space...." is a good indication that it is missing a 1cm piece of its shank

I meant that in the context that the pipe itself may have somehow been extensively modified, and a case maybe retrofitted or re-made for it. I’m pretty certain that something broke, as the images of the shank and the bit show those craggy edges. If the actual meer neck broke originally, that would explain why it is craggy, but not necessarily why the (replacement) shank is, and vice versa. If the amber stem broke, why would the meer neck get so roughed up once a replacement bit was put there, etc. Lots of puzzles here.

Anyway, here’s a rather shoddy image of the pipe in the case taken with a flash for all the gory details:

 

[OzPiper]

I meant that in the context that the pipe itself may have somehow been extensively modified, and a case maybe retrofitted or re-made for it. I’m pretty certain that something broke, as the images of the shank and the bit show those craggy edges. If the actual meer neck broke originally, that would explain why it is craggy, but not necessarily why the (replacement) shank is, and vice versa. If the amber stem broke, why would the meer neck get so roughed up once a replacement bit was put there, etc. Lots of puzzles here.

Anyway, here’s a rather shoddy image of the pipe in the case taken with a flash for all the gory details:

View attachment 436919

The bowl fits the case perfectly, but the shank/stem is shortened
A new stem replacement can restore it back to its original dimensions

Tim (@ashdigger) and @condorlover1 (between them) have numerous vintage meerschaum pipes that have been re-stemmed/restored.
They may be kind enough to upload photos of their pipes with replacement stemwork