Astley Calabash

[damacene]

Hello gents, a dear friend and mentor of mine passed away three years ago; his family just got around to doing an estate sale over the weekend. It was very strange having to pay for things he would have given away freely as he was an extraordinary generous and kind man. My wife was able to get a couple of his pipes and I was wondering if anyone might have any information on this pipe? Obviously I intend to keep this forever, but I don't know a whole lot about Astley pipes and even less about Calabashes. Thanks for the help!

 

[OzPiper]

That's a gourd calabash.

Astley was a well known and exclusive London pipe shop.
They did not make their own pipes but had them made by well-known makers like Charatan, Dunhill, Upshall, etc

 

[Terry Lennox]

Astley's was a renowned pipe shop in London for many decades located at 109 Jermyn Street. These pipes were made by high end pipe makers for the store. They are quite sought after today. I have two of them. I don't know the value of that calabash but it would depend on condition etc. You can see more about the shop at this link. There is a copy of an old catalog with a photo from inside the shop.

Astley's - Pipedia

pipedia.org

 

[damacene]

Astley's was a renowned pipe shop in London for many decades located at 109 Jermyn Street. These pipes were made by high end pipe makers for the store. They are quite sought after today. I have two of them. I don't know the value of that calabash but it would depend on condition etc. You can see more about the shop at this link. There is a copy of an old catalog with a photo from inside the shop.

Astley's - Pipedia

pipedia.org

Thank you for the info! It appears to be unsmoked.

 

[damacene]

That's a gourd calabash.

Astley was a well known and exclusive London pipe shop.
They did not make their own pipes but had them made by well-known makers like Charatan, Dunhill, Upshall, etc

Thank you! I didn't know that they didn't make their own pipes. It looks like the stem is horn from what I can tell.

 

[OzPiper]

Thank you! I didn't know that they didn't make their own pipes. It looks like the stem is horn from what I can tell.

The stem looks like amber or faux amber.
Real amber is often designated as such on the case.
IF it is real amber, take care as it can be extremely fragile and can chip, flake or snap easily. Do not be tempted to dissemble the stem unnecessarily.

Horn can range in colour from black to beige or brown or variegated.
But never egg-yolk yellow.

Does the stem have an orific (ie round rather than a slotted hole) bit ?
If it does, then it likely dates to pre-mid 1920s

 

[damacene]

The stem looks like amber or faux amber.
Real amber is often designated as such on the case.
IF it is real amber, take care as it can be extremely fragile and can chip, flake or snap easily. Do not be tempted to dissemble the stem unnecessarily.

Horn can range in colour from black to beige or brown or variegated.
But never egg-yolk yellow.

Does the stem have an orific (ie round rather than a slotted hole) bit ?
If it does, then it likely dates to pre-mid 1920s

Interesting, it appears to be slotted. Sorry this is the best pic I could get

 

[Terry Lennox]

There is a photo of a calabash on page 16 of this PDF of an Astleys catalog. Be careful not to lose that little Astley label.

https://pipedia.org/images/d/dc/Astley%27s_catalogue.pdf

 

[OzPiper]

Interesting, it appears to be slotted. Sorry this is the best pic I could get

A slotted bit is more likely post-1920s (though I have a few that are pre-1920s)
The stem is likely NOT amber - which may be a good thing

 

[damacene]

A slotted bit is more likely post-1920s (though I have a few that are pre-1920s)
The stem is likely NOT amber - which may be a good thing

Honestly that's a relief; I would never forgive myself if I broke it, and I'd like to smoke it once and awhile to remember him.