Can anyone identify this pipe?

[unclescot]

It's the same way with any collector. I have several glass vacuum coffee pots over 50 years old, and some chrome even older, on my kitchen shelves, but they're so fragile I couldn't use them. I've got a few that I can use, though, if I want, but in general I want them to give my kitchen atmosphere. It's a matter of craft meeting design and display. Not to mention maintaining the value.
Me, I don't understand the need to use every weapon in one's arsenal without setting back a few just to display beauty. l guess it's something hard to explain. It'd be like using the Holy Grail as a teacup. (A bit of exaggeration, but you know.)

 

[unclescot]

@manansmiff Yes, some pipes do look very artful in their design but they were designed for smoking.
If it were all a matter of choosing a travel mechanism for nicotine, there would be several better methods. Pipes are a fairly clumsy one. But some of them aren't made for smoking, but to be appreciated. Perhaps the creators feel differently. I'd like to know their intentions.

 

[mawnansmiff]

"But some of them aren't made for smoking,"
With all due respect Scot where on earth did you get that little snippet from?
I can't imagine a pipemaker making a pipe then telling a potential customer "...and by the way, this pipe isn't actually made for smoking." :crazy:
Regards,
Jay.

 

[gloucesterman]

Pipes as an art form as verses pipes as a smoke delivery device, an interesting argument but one without a winner, both are valid perspectives. This same argument holds true for decoys, cars and china. No single perspective captures the whole spectrum. An appreciation for the perspectives of others, although they my differ from our own always makes for diversity and interest.

 

[tuold]

@mawnansmiff,
You just have to know what it's like to be a collector! I have a lot of pipes I use and some I just put on display, mostly because I went to a lot of work to restore the pipe. I enjoying showing them off occasionally.
Along the same lines.....
I build scale model airplanes. Some kits I buy to build and some to collect that never get built of even opened depending on how rare or unique they are. I may want to trade or sell the kit at a later date.
Probably sounds crazy, but that's how the mind of a collector works.

 

[wyfbane]

^ +1 on the mind of a collector. There are pipes I have that I will likely never smoke.

 

[sablebrush52]

And the discussion continues between those who view a pipe entirely as a tool for delivering nicotine and those who also enjoy pipes as items of craftsmanship.
If all one is looking for is a nicotine delivery service, then a cob is all one needs. I wouldn't understand anyone who professed to believe a pipe to be no more than a tool who spent more than $10 on a cob. What would be the point.
As for me, I have a few unsmoked pipes that I happily enjoy as vintage or antique objects of fine craftsmanship and have no intention of smoking, and the vast majority I smoke.

 

[newbroom]

Within the first few months of that first year I discovered that estate pipes could be had for 'cheap' on ebay and began to acquire them. Some of these arrived in unsmoked condition and they've remained as such.

Now, I am not in such a hurry to acquire more, and I've got a wide selection of makes, shapes, sizes, and substrates to choose from.

This thread has made me think that I probably should become more selective, and also to minimize my 'collection'.

I've always had the thought that if I bought low enough, I could recoup.

It's the work involved that prevents me from acting. It always takes me a long time to work up to realizing any scintilla of my 'big' ideas. (to me a big idea is pretty much anything requiring my handiwork in any way)

 

[mawnansmiff]

"And the discussion continues between those who view a pipe entirely as a tool for delivering nicotine and those who also enjoy pipes as items of craftsmanship."
Jesse, I do appreciate the craftsmanship in the making of my 'smoke delivery systems', some more than others. The point I was making was I thought it rather comical to put them in a display case as if some ancient revered artefact as one might find in a museum.
"You just have to know what it's like to be a collector!"
Tuold, I am a collector though of minerals (which live in cabinet drawers) and antique dictionaries and similar books. I suppose you could say I 'display' my dictionaries simply because they are in bookcases but that is the only way I know to store books for easy access. I certainly don't regard them as display pieces despite the bookbinder's craftsmanship being pretty evident.
At the end of the day we all do as we please, it's just me having difficulty in understanding the displaying of pipes.
Regards,
Jay.