Interesting Completed Ebay Auctions - British Pipes

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Ahi Ka

Lurker
Feb 25, 2020
6,711
32,079
Aotearoa (New Zealand)
It's not every day that an unsmoked Barling shows up on eBay.


But I have reservations about this one, not whether or not it's unsmoked, I have no way of knowing whether that's true, but whether or not it has been subjected to some level of "restoration" by someone. Given the final price, I suspect that others felt the same way. It certainly is, in most respects, in clean condition. All of the stampings are crisp and the stem nomenclature appears to be crisp, both good signs, as the stem nomenclature is easily worn down.

What is bothering me most is the chamber wall. It looks freshly scoured. There are horizontal lines visible, which I have never seen in any other unsmoked Barling. The wood looks totally fresh, not like the wood of a 70 year old pipe, which will have darkened slightly over the years. Since I own several unsmoked Barlings I pulled them out to compare and the chamber wall on all of them is slightly darker. There are no horizontal lines.

The jig marks in the side of the chamber appear to be a little shallower and less distinct in this Barling than the ones that I own. Nor are there dark spots against the fresh wood in my unsmoked Barlings. The patina is uniform.

Another concern is the bit of wear on the rim. Barling used two different stains on their fossil pipes. The undercoat was red, over which was applied a black coating. The purpose of this was to develop a pleasing pattern of reddish highlights to the blast, over time, as the pipe was handled and enjoyed. There appear to be reddish highlights on the rim. On my unsmoked fossil there are no reddish highlights. The dark top coat is unbroken.
To be fair it wasn’t listed as unsmoked but un smoked, which I guess could be another way of saying one de-smoked the pipe. Another hipster coinage like homesteading 😂
 

ssjones

Moderator
Staff member
May 11, 2011
18,947
12,914
Covington, Louisiana
postimg.cc
Dec 10, 2013
2,604
3,324
Nijmegen, the Netherlands
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PLANofMAN

Might Stick Around
Jan 13, 2024
55
105
44
Salem, Oregon
Screenshot_2024-06-09-19-19-50-94_260528048de7f2f358f0056f785be619.jpg
Scottish clay 'system' pipe (William White & Sons) w/ P-Lip type stem. Not a Peterson, but still rare. Doubly rare, as the case is more uncommon than the pipe.

I didn't expect to win this auction.
 

Ahi Ka

Lurker
Feb 25, 2020
6,711
32,079
Aotearoa (New Zealand)
View attachment 316251
Scottish clay 'system' pipe (William White & Sons) w/ P-Lip type stem. Not a Peterson, but still rare. Doubly rare, as the case is more uncommon than the pipe.

I didn't expect to win this auction.
Lovely piece of history there. Congratulations
 

bayareabriar

Lifer
May 8, 2019
1,076
1,803
Yes, B grades are nice. However, this is more like an ‘S’ grade. After Moti bought the company, he pulled all kinds of shenanigans. A cross grained pipe would have never been marked as a ‘B’
Are the letters a grade or a finish/stain?
 

craig61a

Lifer
Apr 29, 2017
6,151
52,848
Minnesota USA
Are the letters a grade or a finish/stain?
The letters are a grade relating to the grain. Lower grades were also stained a different color.

The grades ran, from lowest to highest, S, A, P, B, G, X, XX.

S grades were stained red, A grades were stained chestnut, while the rest were stained natural, which is like a Pete natural, an orange color.

The true straight grain pipes are basically from ‘B’ to ‘XX’. You may see some wavy grain on ‘B’s. It all depended on the strength of the production, at least during Ken Barnes’ tenure.

After Ken left, Barry Jones took over the leadership of the company, spending more time on administrative tasks. It was then, in my opinion, that minor issues began to exhibit themselves in the manufacturing.
 

bayareabriar

Lifer
May 8, 2019
1,076
1,803
The letters are a grade relating to the grain. Lower grades were also stained a different color.

The grades ran, from lowest to highest, S, A, P, B, G, X, XX.

S grades were stained red, A grades were stained chestnut, while the rest were stained natural, which is like a Pete natural, an orange color.

The true straight grain pipes are basically from ‘B’ to ‘XX’. You may see some wavy grain on ‘B’s. It all depended on the strength of the production, at least during Ken Barnes’ tenure.

After Ken left, Barry Jones took over the leadership of the company, spending more time on administrative tasks. It was then, in my opinion, that minor issues began to exhibit themselves in the manufacturing.
Thank you
 
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