Comoy's/Bruyere St. Claude Rare 1920's Unsmoked Ornate Carved Cutty

[crazyhog]

Hi, saw this pipe and fell in love. I'm not really that familiar with Claudes, except being French made. Comoys, I thought were English made. This pipe has some nice, intricate carvings and a brass band. Looks like new to me after 100 years. Its 9.25" long and 45 grams. Question, is this a Comoy or a Claude or both given its age?
Seller is asking $275. No idea if this us a fair price. Anyone have an idea? Thanks

 

[Chasing Embers]

If unsmoked, I would leave it that way. Unsmoked briar that old has a tendency of splitting when exposed to the heat and moisture of smoking.

 

[donjgiles]

It sure is pretty!

 

[mingc]

Saint-Claude is a town in France near the Swiss border and was and maybe still is the center of pipe production in France. The use of briar for pipes started there supposedly. The Comoy family made pipes there in the early 19th century before heading to England in the early 20th century. Comoy's - Pipedia - https://pipedia.org/wiki/Comoy%27s
From French wikipedia, during WWII, the SS, in the presence of Klaus Barbie, rounded up all the men in town between 18 and 45 and sent them to Buchenwald. 186 out of 302 did not return. English wikipedia says the town was a popular route for Jews escaping to Switzerland. I assume the roundup had something to do with either discouraging or punishing the townspeople for helping Jewish escapees.

 

[pitchfork]

It's a cool looking pipe, but I don't know what "research" tells the seller that it was made for Comoy. I wouldn't put any stock in that connection without more information. St. Claude is a place name, not a brand name (as far as I know).

It's a fairly unusual pipe, so it would be hard to put a price on it other than what you're willing to pay. Is $275 too high? I don't know. I'm sure there are collectors of carved pipes out there, some of whom might be interested in this pipe at that price, but there would be many, many more Comoy, Barling and Dunhill collectors, for instance. If you were to buy it and then wanted to sell it later on, it might be difficult to find a ready buyer.

 

[crazyhog]

Thanks you for your replies. I offered $200 and the seller didn't' bite. I don't feel comfortable going over that. Seller considers it a museum piece. Oh well.