Andreas Bauer Meerschaum Band Deciphering

[brandaves]

I recently received a lot of Andreas Bauer pipes I won in an auction. I was pleasantly surprised at the overall condition of the lot but have one pipe inspiring some questions. There is a silver band stamped with "A B & Co. Ltd" and then what might be a date code stamp of an ️, and "a". Does anyone know how to decipher this? Unfortunately the pipedia article wasn't much help.

 

[Ahi Ka]

Those are silver marks for Albert Baker & Co. Ltd. 1900 Birmingham

 

[sablebrush52]

The hallmarks indicate that this pipe was mounted in Birmingham in 1900. I'll see if I can locate the maker of the sterling fitment.

Ahi Ka beat me to it.

 

[OzPiper]

I recently received a lot of Andreas Bauer pipes I won in an auction. I was pleasantly surprised at the overall condition of the lot but have one pipe inspiring some questions. There is a silver band stamped with "A B & Co. Ltd" and then what might be a date code stamp of an ️, and "a". Does anyone know how to decipher this? Unfortunately the pipedia article wasn't much help.
View attachment 216694
View attachment 216695

English silver hallmarks
Just Google "English Silver Hallmarks" - site(s) are generally easy to negotiate

The lion (in the middle) is the hall mark for England
The anchor is for Birmingham. Other cities commonly found are London (leopard's head) and Chester (tree).
And the "a" is the date letter

 

[brandaves]

Those are silver marks for Albert Baker & Co. Ltd. 1900 Birmingham

The hallmarks indicate that this pipe was mounted in Birmingham in 1900. I'll see if I can locate the maker of the sterling fitment.

Ahi Ka beat me to it.

English silver hallmarks
Just Google "English Silver Hallmarks" - site(s) are generally easy to negotiate

The lion (in the middle) is the hall mark for England
The anchor is for Birmingham. Other cities commonly found are London (leopard's head) and Chester (tree).
And the "a" is the date letter

Thank you all for the replies! Very helpful!

So is the pipe not Andreas Bauer at all then or is it just the stem that was made in Birmingham in 1900?

 

[brandaves]

Well, a little research based on the above and I answered my own question. Thank you very much for the assistance gentlemen. Mystery solved!

 

[OzPiper]

Thank you all for the replies! Very helpful!

So is the pipe not Andreas Bauer at all then or is it just the stem that was made in Birmingham in 1900?

Back in those days, the pipes or stummels were more often than not imported into England to be "finished or tarted up with silver".
Then stamped "Made in London or England"

 

[RustiePyles CPG]

Thank you all for the replies! Very helpful!

So is the pipe not Andreas Bauer at all then or is it just the stem that was made in Birmingham in 1900?

Andreas Bauer was founded 1908, this pipe was at least mounted sometime around 1900. So the chances of it being a Bauer are slim to none. The silver looks like a shank repair, so I would say the pipe would possibly be older than 1900. Most English Meers of that era were made in Vienna or Germany and then mounted in England. Albert Baker is a likely candidate as stated by @Ahi Ka

 

[brandaves]

Andreas Bauer was founded 1908, this pipe was at least mounted sometime around 1900. So the chances of it being a Bauer are slim to none. The silver looks like a shank repair, so I would say the pipe would possibly be older than 1900. Most English Meers of that era were made in Vienna or Germany and then mounted in England. Albert Baker is a likely candidate as stated by @Ahi Ka
View attachment 216765

I now believe the pipe to be made by Albert Baker and Co. England as you said.

I knew Andreas Bauer was founded in 1908 so I figure like you that it probably isn't an Andreas Bauer. The seller probably saw the AB and made a leap from there. Either way, very happy with the pipe. It is now the earliest functional pipe I own. Excited to give a smoke soon!

 

[Ahi Ka]

I have had a few Albert Baker & Co. pipes which have been excellent. I also have had a few which had bands marked only A-B. My conclusion is that the ones with the AB&Co bands were sold through their own tobacconist, whereas the others were mounted and then stamped/sold through tobacconists. It took me a while to figure this out (and I could still be wrong) but I noticed the A-B mark on silverwork unrelated to tobacco which gave provenance to Albert Baker.

 

[kcghost]

Fairly easy to handle yourself but it was nice getting to look at the pipe.

 

[verporchting]

Sorry to resurrect an old post but this came up in my research.

I have an old billiard with an amber orific stem and I was able to magnify the silver hallmark enough to read AB & Co over the hallmarks of + and a Lion and possibly a lower case b or h. Under that it says Superior.

Can anybody date this hallmark? I’ve received great replies in another thread but I couldn’t see the markings on the band until just now and was only going off the ABC stamp on the briar.

 

[craiginthecorn]

Sorry to resurrect an old post but this came up in my research.

I have an old billiard with an amber orific stem and I was able to magnify the silver hallmark enough to read AB & Co over the hallmarks of + and a Lion and possibly a lower case b or h. Under that it says Superior.

Can anybody date this hallmark? I’ve received great replies in another thread but I couldn’t see the markings on the band until just now and was only going off the ABC stamp on the briar.

A photo is essential because the date is affected by the shape surrounding the letter and the font used for the letter. Most likely, you’re looking at a Birmingham hallmark. My guess is that the “+” is the top of the Birmingham anchor city mark. The lion indicates England.

Birmingham Date Letters

 

[verporchting]

A photo is essential because the date is affected by the shape surrounding the letter and the font used for the letter. Most likely, you’re looking at a Birmingham hallmark. My guess is that the “+” is the top of the Birmingham anchor city mark. The lion indicates England.

Birmingham Date Letters

The hallmarks are incredibly faint and hard to photograph but this is the best picture I could get after several tries in different lighting conditions.

 

[condorlover1]

Birmingham and it is the letter 'h' so most likely either 1882 or 1907 depending on the style of the letter.

 

[verporchting]

Birmingham and it is the letter 'h' so most likely either 1882 or 1907 depending on the style of the letter.

Thank you so much! I knew it was fairly old but it was just a beautiful little pipe in great shape for a very good price so I just bought it for the joy of it. At the time I couldn’t make out the hallmarks whatsoever but that just tickles me to learn.