Can anyone tell me about this ~100 year old pipe I have?

[red1]

Hello everyone,
A while back I inherited a pipe from my grandmother that had belonged to her father. From what I understand the pipe is over 100 years old. I had it slightly repaired, having a new mouth piece and something put on the end of the stem so that it could connect to the bowl (not sure what you call it) as the original was missing. I used some pipe cleaners to clean out the bowl and stem (they were both filthy). The bowl still smells HEAVILY of tobacco (I do quite like the smell though) even though it has not been smoked in ages. There is silver on both the rim of bowl (there is a hinge left over from what I assume was a cover) and where the bowl connects to the stem. The inside of the bowl looks to be fairly deteriorated. The pipe is around 42 cm in length
Could anyone tell me any more about this pipe? I have no idea what this style of pipe is called, the type of wood used, or if it could still be smoked without damaging it. Any and all comments are appreciated
Here are the pictures
(Link is to photobucket)

 

[prairiedruid]

Any type of maker's marks on the bowl of the pipe or the stem? Looks well used so I wouldn't be worried about damaging it; a little reaming of the bowl might be called for.

 

[pitchfork]

It's fairly typical of mid-19th century meerschaum pipes. Does the silver have any hallmarks?

 

[mso489]

Two or three full views of the pipe, maybe from the side and above, would help. Is there any stamping (words,numbers) or are there any logos? From what little I can see, I'd guess this is some sort of maybe German pipe. Replacing the stem may or may not have been the best thing; if it is more a historical piece than a smoking tool, the original stem is part of it. Save it if you have it. People will need a better view and any stamping on the briar or on the metal work. Don't hold out hope for great value here. It could be, but more than likely it is just an interesting old piece. It is not in good shape. You could have it professionally restored, but be sure you go to a pro for an agreed upon price. It's interesting but perhaps not valuable. I think it is more in the line of a family heirloom, and as such is a nice acquisition. There are pipe historians on Forums who might have solid info. I'm just an old pipe smoker who likes to play detective.

 

[red1]

Hi all, thanks for the replies
I looked it over again very thoroughly and could see no stamping, marks, or any other kind of indications anywhere on the pipe. Either the marks that were on it have been worn off, or it never had any markings. Maybe the lid had the makers mark on it?
This pipe is definitely an heirloom to me, I have no intention of selling it.
Mainly I'm just interested more in the history of this style of pipe and if it could still be smoked today. I've added a few more photos of the inside of the bowl

 

[woodsroad]

Damn, Photobucket has a veritable s*itload of pop-ups.

 

[sablebrush52]

Damn, Photobucket has a veritable s*itload of pop-ups.

That's why I refuse to open any links to that site. It's a veritable Typhoid Mary of a site.

 

[red1]

Sorry, I had no idea
If you use Google Chrome you should consider getting adblock and adblock plus, I get no popups at all from the site.
Is there any way to post pictures directly on this site? I was going to do that, but I saw no option while making this post :/

 

[jpmcwjr]

Here ya go!
This is how to add photos to your post using the site's photo album:
Images tend to be smaller than hosting site's size, but can be full sized if you remove the pixel limitation, -600x360)— the numbers and the dash preceding, leaving no spaces, and ending in .jpg
1.) Login

2.) Go to My Account (may have hit Home button first) and mouse down to Album.

3.) Choose Upload Picture (navigate to photo you've given a sensible name to), be sure to then hit Upload.

4.) Go back to Album, click on thumbnail to open full size image. Right click (Windows); Control Click (Mac) and select "copy image location" (its URL).

5.) Return to your reply window in the thread and click on the IMG button at the top of the compose window.

7.) Paste the image location into the window and click OK. (You can paste over the existing http://)
An example, of a thumbnail named "hms-penzance-1940" followed by -150x100.jpg is the name of the photo in my album, and the the -150x100 limits the size.

If I remove the numbers, it goes to whatever size at which it was uploaded, subject to web sized image limitations.

 

[red1]

Thank you! That helps a lot, here are some of the photos

Inside of the bowl

Where the stem meets the bowl

 

[cortezattic]

Looks similar to antique German Kalmasch pipes c.1900

 

[red1]

hey you're right! I found this one after a quick google search and found this one which looks quite similar. Thank you

 

[cortezattic]

Did your grandmother's father come from Germany, Austria, Bavaria, Switzerland, Prussia ... ?

Museum collections from those countries might be a place to start.

 

[mawnansmiff]

Quite the detective is our Cortez...well done fella :clap:
Regards,
Jay.

 

[cortezattic]

'Twas nothing compared to all the head-scratching I did to solve the riddles you posed last week, Jay!

 

[mawnansmiff]

I have many more Cortez so watch out :wink:
Regards,
Jay.

 

[red1]

Yes thanks again Cortez

 

[woodsroad]

That's great, Cortez!

 

[ryusama]

I have a pipe I need to know what kind is email is jared7244@msn.com

 

[jpmcwjr]

Jared-
You might start your own thread, with photos, and ask rather than demand.
And e-mail is not happening for this type of request.