Based on the attached images of my grandfathers pipe, what might you suggest that the estimated date-of-manufacture be?
Mark E. Geres
Mark E. Geres
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Estimated Date of Manufacture / Franz Hiess & Sohn
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I would guess the same. The seller/producer, Franz Hiess & Sons, was quite big in Vienna at that time.
More important: The address! The building at Kärntnerstraße 25 was a highly decorated work by architect Leopold Theyer, so we know that it was built in 1885. I would conclude that this marks the earliest possible date.
More important: The address! The building at Kärntnerstraße 25 was a highly decorated work by architect Leopold Theyer, so we know that it was built in 1885. I would conclude that this marks the earliest possible date.
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Nice meer!
Although I am biased, I love old Austrian meers.
Although I am biased, I love old Austrian meers.
This style of fully-figural pipe seems to have lost popularity around 1900. So last 15 years or so of 1800s is my guess. Lovely carving. Stem is a replacement, original would have been amber. You have a gorgeous pipe.
I could tell you much, much more than any sane person would want to know about Franz Seraph Hiess and his four sons (Eduard, Karl, Rudolph and Franz), but unfortunately even if you stayed awake none of it would help you date your pipe beyond what's already been said. The address and the reference to "& Söhne" on the label only tell you it was made after 1885, but given that the name of the business and its location stayed the same for many decades that won't narrow down the range very much, which appears to leave aesthetic judgment as the next best thing. But there is another path we can try that begins at the other end of the puzzle, with your grandfather. Do you know if he bought the pipe new or used? If new, when was he born and where was he likely to have been living from his twenties through his forties? I would point out that it seems a bit unlikely to have been a new purchase unless your grandfather was born 140-160 years ago or more.
Have you thought of writing something for Pipedia? The only list his name under the Brands & Makers section. No click for more information.
Honestly I don’t have the time. Pipe stuff comes after work and family, and even within pipe stuff Hiess would be very far down the list. If I wrote up everything I had into an intelligible narrative I’d be doing little else.
Jguss, do you know if any off the Heiss family were carving pipes, or were they just businesspeople who employed carvers? An extraordinarily kind person gifted me a Heiss meerschaum, case stamped both inside on the fabric and on the outer edge, "Franz Heiss & Söhne." I trust Ben Rapaport, who says head/face pipes seem to have gone out-of-fashion around 1900, so that's a solid 15-year period (or so) in which it could have been made. The carving is lovely, and I never expected I'd pin down a year; your early date helps get a period. The person who passed it to me saw Heiss had a booth at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, and believed it might have been purchased there.
A well executed pipe by one of Heiss's house carvers and would at one point have had an amber stem. Ben Rapaport is indeed right in that carved pipes of head/faces had gone out of fashion by 1900. Meerschaum tended to show up as conventional pipe shapes by the early 1900s. This explains all the bulldog pipes that have survived with the 'blinged' up metal fittings and also less ornate pipes tend to survive the wear and tear of general use.
First, let me thank you @jguss for sharing your wealth of info on Hiess&Sohne - I've been looking for this detail for a while! Secondly, any thoughts on this one? I found it interesting that this one has the address *20* Kartnthnerstrasse - any guesses as to whether that implies this was made before 1885 when their "new" building at *25* Karnstrasse was completed? (or it may also be that I am just missing some detail about the building address). Anyway, this was passed down through my brother's family - strong German/Austrian roots so I don't know where it was originally acquired but I'd be grateful for any detail or guidance on where to look. I am the last surviving member of this family line so unfortunately I will be looking to sell this but would like to provide the buyers with all the info I can. 
According to the Adolph Lehmann Vienna city directories of the time, Hiess was located at 20 Karthnetstrasse from 1883-1886, so I’d say it’s safe to date your pipe to the mid 1880s.
Jonas, the company is listed in contemporary city directories, such as this one from 1890, as being a “Meerschaum, Bernstein u. Drechsler warenfab.”, ie a factory engaged in making goods from meerschaum, amber and turned wood.
More specifically Franz was himself listed as a turner (below as an example is an extract from a city directory issued in 1870):
So my read is yes, Franz and those of his sons involved in the business actually made pipes, and as the company grew they hired additional artisans to expand production.
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