Fred Bass's article,
"Slave To The White Goddess" will answer your questions.
If your estate meer has been smoked a lot, you can obtain good results very quickly by brushing melted white bee's wax on the surface
of the pipe while heating it with a hot air blower. The wax, which is good for the meer anyway, will draw the patina to the surface.
Here's my claw, which I smoked on and off for many years, and it was practically bone white until I started brushing bee's wax on it.
Then, the color popped right away! You can find white bee's wax on eBay, and a lifetime supply is pretty cheap.
I should add that you must keep the bowl interior clean and free of carbon build-up; and
don't do any alcohol soaks.
If you must use alcohol to clean the shank, use very little, and be quick about swabbing it dry. Alcohol will soak into
the porous meerschaum and ruin its appearance.
This is what a meer can look like by exposing it to alcohol.