My sister-in-law went to England a few weeks ago and brought me back an interesting gift - A Boer War pipe that she found in an antique shop. I knew nothing about them and was intrigued by their history.
The pipe was in pretty rough shape, with a badly oxidized stem, corroded electroplate, plugged draft hole, and just in need a lot of work to bring it back to smoking condition. I sent the pipe off to my favorite pipe restorer, Shae Hemingway. He does incredible work and I was blown away by the results:
This ~120 year-old pipe bears the coat of arms of the Transvaal, which was a symbol of the South African Republic. The dedication to the presumed soldier from his brother is carved on both sides.
It's probably as close to how is looked 120 years ago as it will ever be. Ready to smoke. Now the hard part - to try and find out who the owner was. It's probably a pipe dream, but worth a shot. I love researching stuff like this...
Any other interesting information regarding these pipes, who carved them, etc., is welcome. Does anyone else here have any Boer War pipes? Tell me about them!
The pipe was in pretty rough shape, with a badly oxidized stem, corroded electroplate, plugged draft hole, and just in need a lot of work to bring it back to smoking condition. I sent the pipe off to my favorite pipe restorer, Shae Hemingway. He does incredible work and I was blown away by the results:
This ~120 year-old pipe bears the coat of arms of the Transvaal, which was a symbol of the South African Republic. The dedication to the presumed soldier from his brother is carved on both sides.
It's probably as close to how is looked 120 years ago as it will ever be. Ready to smoke. Now the hard part - to try and find out who the owner was. It's probably a pipe dream, but worth a shot. I love researching stuff like this...
Any other interesting information regarding these pipes, who carved them, etc., is welcome. Does anyone else here have any Boer War pipes? Tell me about them!
