Figural Briar From Grandpa's Estate

[Zamora]

My grandpa died back in 2020 and I helped my mom bring a substantial amount of his items back home, mostly books and art but various other things as well. We boxed it all up and the boxes had been staying in the garage until yesterday when my mom decided she wanted to use that space for something else. There were so many things I don't remember packing away, one of them was this pipe.

Does anybody have any idea what brand this might be? The stamps say "hand made", "real briar", and "Made in France", so I'm guessing this is a basket pipe from St. Claude. I know old St. Claude carvers did used to produce a lot of figurals. I'm also curious what material the stem might be, so I can figure the best way to go about restoring it.

 

[TheIronMonkey]

That’s a depiction of Vercingetorix, often depicted on pipes. The stem looks like vulcanite.

 

[Zamora]

That’s a depiction of Vercingetorix, often depicted on pipes. The stem looks like vulcanite.

Yep I've seen quite a few with him. My local B&M has a Paykoc meer with him incorrectly labeled as Mercury. Apparently Dunhill used to make Vercingetorix pipes for the French market, but the stem has no white spot (could be a replacement of course) and the stamp makes no mention of Dunhill. Like I said it's probably a basket pipe

 

[sablebrush52]

Whatever it is and whoever made it, with those stamping it was intended for an English speaking market.

 

[OzPiper]

Yep I've seen quite a few with him. My local B&M has a Paykoc meer with him incorrectly labeled as Mercury. Apparently Dunhill used to make Vercingetorix pipes for the French market, but the stem has no white spot (could be a replacement of course) and the stamp makes no mention of Dunhill. Like I said it's probably a basket pipe

I doubt that Dunhill would have made Vercingetorix pipes for the French market
Much more likely for them to SOURCE from a French factory, brand with a white dot, and stamp "Made in London/England"
Which i believe was quite a common practice. Back in the days

 

[Zamora]

I doubt that Dunhill would have made Vercingetorix pipes for the French market
Much more likely for them to SOURCE from a French factory, brand with a white dot, and stamp "Made in London/England"
Which i believe was quite a common practice. Back in the days

I had no idea that was a practice back then. I would've thought surely Dunhill would only make their own pipes lest they risk something substandard bearing their name.

 

[OzPiper]

I had no idea that was a practice back then. I would've thought surely Dunhill would only make their own pipes lest they risk something substandard bearing their name.

A lot of pipes carrying the White Dot are NOT made in England
There are ones of French, Danish and Turkish (meers) origins

And it’s not only Dunhill resorting to this practice

 

[sablebrush52]

I had no idea that was a practice back then. I would've thought surely Dunhill would only make their own pipes lest they risk something substandard bearing their name.

Almost all British pipe manufacturers bought turned stummels from St Claude and Nuremberg and did the final finishing, staining, polishing, and mounting with stems. Dunhill was no exception. The only two companies who decided to make all their own pipes in house in the early 20th century were Comoy and Barling, and Comoy of course, had their French connections, having started in France.
If a pipe maker got a bad stummel, it went into the furnace.

 

[Zamora]

A lot of pipes carrying the White Dot are NOT made in England
There are ones of French, Danish and Turkish (meers) origins

And it’s not only Dunhill resorting to this practice

Yeah I'd imagine if Dunhill does it then others would too.

Almost all British pipe manufacturers bought turned stummels from St Claude and Nuremberg and did the final finishing, staining, polishing, and mounting with stems. Dunhill was no exception. The only two companies who decided to make all their own pipes in house in the early 20th century were Comoy and Barling, and Comoy of course, had their French connections, having started in France.
If a pipe maker got a bad stummel, it went into the furnace.

I had no idea, I always assumed they bought blocks of briar and took it from their. Didn't know Comoy became British, I'd figured they stayed in St. Claude or at least France. Very interesting, thanks for the info

 

[OzPiper]

Yeah I'd imagine if Dunhill does it then others would too.

I had no idea, I always assumed they bought blocks of briar and took it from their. Didn't know Comoy became British, I'd figured they stayed in St. Claude or at least France. Very interesting, thanks for the info

The French- English pipe industry was notoriously incestuous
It becomes even murkier with the formation of Cardogan
You need to be a forensic accountant to unravel the tangled web of cross ownership(s)
Thankfully we have @jguss and @sablebrush52 to set us on the right path

 

[Zamora]

I've never even heard of Cardogan. Sounds like Habsburg or Targaryen would be apt names for a Franco-British (or is it Anglo-French?) pipe brand.

 

[OzPiper]

I've never even heard of Cardogan. Sounds like Habsburg or Targaryen would be apt names for a Franco-British (or is it Anglo-French?) pipe brand.

A quick look at Pipedia perhaps ?

 

[Zamora]

A quick look at Pipedia perhaps ?

I looked into it you weren't joking, they were all over the place.

 

[onepyrotec]

My grandpa died back in 2020 and I helped my mom bring a substantial amount of his items back home, mostly books and art but various other things as well. We boxed it all up and the boxes had been staying in the garage until yesterday when my mom decided she wanted to use that space for something else. There were so many things I don't remember packing away, one of them was this pipe.

Does anybody have any idea what brand this might be? The stamps say "hand made", "real briar", and "Made in France", so I'm guessing this is a basket pipe from St. Claude. I know old St. Claude carvers did used to produce a lot of figurals. I'm also curious what material the stem might be, so I can figure the best way to go about restoring it.

Be careful, it looks like it may be old enough to have a screw in bone tenon.

 

[sablebrush52]

I've never even heard of Cardogan. Sounds like Habsburg or Targaryen would be apt names for a Franco-British (or is it Anglo-French?) pipe brand.

Cardogan is definitely Hapsburg material.

 

[TheIronMonkey]

Cadogan

 

[Alejo R.]

Yeah I'd imagine if Dunhill does it then others would too.

I had no idea, I always assumed they bought blocks of briar and took it from their. Didn't know Comoy became British, I'd figured they stayed in St. Claude or at least France. Very interesting, thanks for the info

The "Com" in Chacom came from Comoy. The name of the french manufacturer is Chapouis Comoy & cie.

 

[Zamora]

Be careful, it looks like it may be old enough to have a screw in bone tenon.

Thankfully it doesn't

The "Com" in Chacom came from Comoy. The name of the french manufacturer is Chapouis Comoy & cie.

I knew about that

 

[mortonbriar]

That’s a depiction of Vercingetorix, often depicted on pipes. The stem looks like vulcanite.

I knew this immediately as well, because I am a historian my kids are 3rd generation Asterix fans.

 

[OverMountain]

Very cool!