Estate Pipe Identification

[Dissident_Mantis]

I purchased this pipe on the Bay over a month ago and completely forgot about it. It was a random Estate Pipe from Romania. I won the auction for only 10 bucks.

The only thing it says on it is “Bruyere Superieure” and it has a Horn stem on it. I didn’t even know they made stems out of horns and I originally thought it was plastic. After heating up a pin and touching it to the horn it smelled like burnt hair, so it cannot be plastic. It also has a stinger in it.

I wasn’t all that interested in this pipe and ordered it as an afterthought, but now I am very intrigued. It looks like it has only been smoked once or twice. Do any of you know what this is or how old it is?

 

[scloyd]

I can't answer your question. I do like the pipe though...especially for only $10.

 

[Dissident_Mantis]

I would hate to smoke this thing and just toss it in a cabinet with the rest of my collection and not be able to explain it. It seems like it has a story.

 

[BROBS]

Maybe late 1930s 1940s
I’m assuming it has a normal and not orific button?

 

[Dissident_Mantis]

Maybe late 1930s 1940s
I’m assuming it has a normal and not orific button?

 

[Dissident_Mantis]

I have never owned a pipe with a stinger so I am not sure. It’s interesting because I just purchased a restored Kyawoodie from Midwestbriar and I thought that was going to be my first stinger pipe.

 

[BROBS]

The button airway. Not the tenon.
I have one like it (tenon) and it froze in the pipe.
I pulled out the stinger first at least. Gives a good smoke.

 

[jensen]

It is a French one. I have more of these with both hornstems and stinger. Most Jeantets and from the 50ties I think.
In the mid 90ties old stock pipes arrived here from St Claude and they were sold very cheap. I think I bought three
dozen or so.

 

[mikethompson]

Gaurantee Breyere or words that look or sound like that generally mean an older French pipe from my experience. Usually there are no makers stamping on them either. The stinger places it either in the 40s to the 60s I think.

I've been going back and forth on a pipe with a horn stem just to say I have one. Yours is a good pick up for only $10.

 

[ssjones]

Assumptions above seem to be on the money, there's no way to get a specific date on these kind of pipes.

 

[Dissident_Mantis]

Seems like this isn’t a hidden gem, or a rare piece. I am actually kind of relieved that it isn’t worth much. That means I get to smoke it and enjoy it.

 

[BROBS]

I think you will be surprised about the comfort of a horn stem. Just don’t bite it!

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Why does everyone assume it is old? I don't think I have ever seen that shape in any of the antique pipe lists that I've seen. What am I missing?

Ropp and Genod makes a bunch of current pipes that have horn stems.

 

[BROBS]

Shape chart? They made all sorts of different panel and goofy shapes all over but I’ve never seen a chart?

 

[chopper]

A 100yo+yo German tobacconist closed a couple of years ago. An ebay seller sold the NOS, some of it 120 years old. . I bought quite a few.

When a pipe from that era was stamped Bruyere Garantie or Bruyere Superieur, it was usually commissioned for a tobacconist/pipe shop.
The 'Garantie' stamp could be either German or French manufacture.
The 'Superieur' mark would suggest that it's French.

Horn stems were popular up to the 1940s & seems to have gone out of favour in the 1950s.
If the horn has a hairline fracture in it's grain, then they can crack if clenched too hard. [Use a rubber bit and don't clench hard] Probably why it fell out of favour for modern materials.

Regarding it's age, the giveaway to me is the stinger. The metal itself looks like it's got age. The style of the stinger & the shape of the bit tells me before the 1940s.
If I had to guess, I'd say 1920-30s. French.