Estate Barling Quaint

[huntertrw]

This evening while perusing eBay I came upon an estate Barling Quaint EXEXEL for sale. This pipe, shown in the image below, has a sterling silver repair band on the shank, and a replacement stem, but it was the carving of the briar which grabbed me.
The Seller described it, in part, as follows, "The shank and mouthpiece are paneled on each side but rounded on the top and bottom– a very rare feature for a Barling." It was a case of love at first sight, and so it has become the fifth member of my small stable of Barlings, and my first Quaint.

 

[cfreud]

Happy smoking!

 

[graydawn]

That is a beauty! The color is so rich and deep. Can we have more pics, I can't quite make out the stampings on the shank and band.
Richard

 

[huntertrw]

graydawn:
Thank-you. I liked the color, too. As for the images, for the nonce I am stuck with those posted by the Seller, and the nomenclature does not show well in any of them. He dates this pipe to the 1950s, and it looks to me as though the Barling stamp is arched which (I believe) would make it a Family Era product.

 

[sablebrush52]

Congratulations on the quaint. Outside of a big ol pot, there is nothing more quintessentially Barling than a Barling Quaint. That's a beauty.
Supposedly, Barling started producing quaints in the early 1930's. They weren't labeled as such. As I've been given to understand it, when a very fine piece of briar, one way too nice to chuck into the furnace, showed a flaw too serious to remove for a smooth finished pipe, it would be given over to a master carver to be covered with fluting and delicate rusticated traceries. The designs were supposedly sketched out by Montague Barling. Barling's head carver, Bob Channan, is said to have carved many of them, and later Horry Jamieson, who later went on to carve "Collector" and "Unique" pipes for GBD.

 

[ssjones]

Lovely! That looks like a Gary Malberg (Secondhand Smoker)sale?

 

[huntertrw]

ssjones:
Good eye, Sir! Indeed, it did come from thesecondhandsmoker on eBay, and is my first purchase from that Seller. Have you patronized them? If so, then what has been your experience? Please let me know.

 

[ssjones]

I have patronized Gary. Interestingly him and his son were living in California but recently moved to Philadelphia. Gary and his son were at the last Philly Pipe Club meeting, so I was able to meet him (and hope to chat more with him at future meetings). I purchased my first James Upshall from Gary and it was a very good experience (with him as a seller and that marque)

 

[huntertrw]

The Postman just delivered the aforementioned Barling Quaint, and upon opening the box I was surprised to find (in addition to the pipe) a sealed tin of Sutliff Balkan Luxury Blend 957 pipe-tobacco. What a nice touch by Mr. Malmberg!
The nomenclature on the pipe is worn, but does, indeed, have the arched "Barling's Make" logo over "Ye Olde Wood" on the left-hand side of the shank (as viewed from the smoker's perspective), and "Made In" over "England" and "EXEXEL" on the right-hand side.
This is a solid, stout pipe whose walls are at least 0.250" thick, and it feels good in my hand. I look forward to testing it just as soon as I give it the obligatory cleaning, salt-and-alcohol treatment, and polish.

 

[sablebrush52]

Before you go all out on a cleanup, check to see that the pipe needs it. As I recall, Gary does work on his pipes before putting them up for auction or sale.

 

[sablebrush52]

Before you go all out on a cleanup, check to see that the pipe needs it. As I recall, Gary does work on his pipes before putting them up for auction or sale.

 

[huntertrw]

sablebrush52:
What would be Barling's shape number and name for this pipe? Please let me know. I examined the shank carefully with a loupe, but could find no evidence of any number stamping, although it may have been originally placed where the sterling silver repair band now resides.
Thank-you for your help with this!

 

[billypm]

If memory serves, most Quaints had a single digit size number (5 or 6, say) instead of the 3 or 4 digit number we usually see. But I've been wrong before.

 

[sablebrush52]

Just back from the West Coast Pipe Show. Will post some pix later when I get home. I answer to Hunter's questions, family era quaints didn't have model numbers. They weren't standard shapes. After the family left, the Barling Company issued a line of quaints, which had single digit numbers stamped on them. Unlike the earlier family era quaints, which were one-of-a-kind, the later quaints were made in multiple copies.

 

[huntertrw]

sablebrush52:
Thank-you for this information! Since the Family Era Quaints were one-offs did their shapes have names?

 

[sablebrush52]

Thank-you for this information! Since the Family Era Quaints were one-offs did their shapes have names?

Hi Hunter,
No, they did not. Sometimes the shape is close enough to its standard cousin that you can make an educated guess where the pipe was headed before they decided to turn it over to be customized, but that's about it. Essentially they're all panels. But some are posts, or billiards, or whatever.

 

[huntertrw]

sablebrush52:
My thanks to you, again, for the education concerning this pipe.