Interesting Completed Ebay Auctions - British Pipes

[buroak]

Wow. What are your recommendations? I have fired up a few very dry 130-140 yr old pipes, but now thinking I probably did not prepare them as well as I could have.

If you haven’t burned them out already, you are probably in the clear.

Still, I am also curious. Some time ago, I snapped up on the cheap a small collection of 1913-1916 English pipes in unsmoked condition. There were no famous makes in the mix (the closest would be an original Malta Patent), but I would like to see them survive another century.

 

[sablebrush52]

Wow. What are your recommendations? I have fired up a few very dry 130-140 yr old pipes, but now thinking I probably did not prepare them as well as I could have.

With pipes of that age, that have not been smoked, or smoked often, the wood has significantly dried out, which makes it much more liable to crack when smoked, often with the first bowl.
The treatment is to remove cake and coat the bowl with a silicate mixture (George has a video on how to do this on YouTube) which is allowed to thoroughly dry. Then start smoking with a very slow cadence, letting the bowl go out and relighting, for the first dozen or so bowls, until the silicate has a carbon covering.
Then you can smoke the pipe, as long as you're careful not to get it hot.

 

[runscott]

If you haven’t burned them out already, you are probably in the clear.

Still, I am also curious. Some time ago, I snapped up on the cheap a small collection of 1913-1916 English pipes in unsmoked condition. There were no famous makes in the mix (the closest would be an original Malta Patent), but I would like to see them survive another century.

My concern is the very light-weight ones - that indicates their being too dry. I've heard people recommend that you just smoke them, and I have my own untried ideas, but I'd like to hear from an expert. For old, trashed stummels that are very light, I would probably soak in oil. Not sure what kind - the new, oil-cured Radices I've owned smell nutty and fantastic when new, but not sure what oil they use.

But for a refinished pipe like the 1893 Barling, you'd have to prepare from the inside.

 

[sablebrush52]

Treasurepipes is having a big day. But I thought this one would approach $2k.

DUNHILL'S SHELL PATENT MAGNUM PIPE 1925 | eBay

MARKED:DUNHILL'S SHELL. 1 PIPE OR ENTIRE COLLECTIONS. MAKE SURE TO SUPER SIZE THE PHOTOS FOR A BETTER VIEW. LENGTH: 8". WEIGHT : 4.9o z.

www.ebay.com

View attachment 349531

Same here, thought it would easily break $1k.

SASIENI "SPECIALLY SELECTED" ONE DOT PIPE | eBay

MARKED: SASIENI "SPECIALLY SELECTED". 1 PIPE OR ENTIRE COLLECTIONS. MAKE SURE TO SUPER SIZE THE PHOTOS FOR A BETTER VIEW.

www.ebay.com

The Dunhill has a repair band for a hairline crack. So that probably cost it.

 

[sablebrush52]

I think the seller of the 100 may be on one of the most spectacular runs I have ever seen.

The price of the Parker may be a record-setter, but it did not surprise me. It’s early, it’s a blast, and it must be nearly the only of its kind.

Too bad about that stem. Getting that much oxidation off will likely throw off the profile. But, that is one HUGE looking pipe!

 

[runscott]

With pipes of that age, that have not been smoked, or smoked often, the wood has significantly dried out, which makes it much more liable to crack when smoked, often with the first bowl.
The treatment is to remove cake and coat the bowl with a silicate mixture (George has a video on how to do this on YouTube) which is allowed to thoroughly dry. Then start smoking with a very slow cadence, letting the bowl go out and relighting, for the first dozen or so bowls, until the silicate has a carbon covering.
Then you can smoke the pipe, as long as you're careful not to get it hot.

Thanks, I would never have thought of that.

 

[sablebrush52]

My concern is the very light-weight ones - that indicates their being too dry. I've heard people recommend that you just smoke them, and I have my own untried ideas, but I'd like to hear from an expert. For old, trashed stummels that are very light, I would probably soak in oil. Not sure what kind - the new, oil-cured Radices I've owned smell nutty and fantastic when new, but not sure what oil they use.

But for a refinished pipe like the 1893 Barling, you'd have to prepare from the inside.

I'm not sure what soaking a pipe in oil will get you. Oil curing involves using oil under heat and pressure, to force out the sap.

 

[runscott]

I'm not sure what soaking a pipe in oil will get you. Oil curing involves using oil under heat and pressure, to force out the sap.

It would add moisture back to the wood.

Just now googling, some say you can add moisture back to dried-out wood using oils (and other things). My concern would be what drying out actually does to the wood cells. Maybe they are 'broken' to a point that adding oil to them won't have any affect and it will just dry out again. But it's easy to test - I'll find an old light stummel, weigh it, soak it in oil, let it dry out over a few months, weighing every now and then.

 

[Hillcrest]

and a Comoy's 100 almost hits $600

COMOY'S RARE 1950's LONDON PRIDE EXTRAORDINAIRE SWAN NECK SHAPE 100 ESTATE PIPE | eBay

I would honestly say this shape is even more rare than the 256 as they just do not show up very often. To make this pipe even more rare, it's a London Pride Extraordinaire which alone is scarce! This pipe may also look familiar as it is a lot like a Dunhill 120 but quite a bit longer and the...

www.ebay.com

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and apparently the frugal :

Comoy’s London Pride! Gorgeous Swan Neck High Grade Estate Pipe Pls Read! | eBay

Comoy’s LP. Outer and inner rim burn, chamber had deep heat fissures, chamber has been coated with pipe mud! Dark streak on shank. I’m reasonable, and I always anticipate that the deal will get done.

www.ebay.com

 

[buroak]

It would add moisture back to the wood.

Just now googling, some say you can add moisture back to dried-out wood using oils (and other things). My concern would be what drying out actually does to the wood cells. Maybe they are 'broken' to a point that adding oil to them won't have any affect and it will just dry out again. But it's easy to test - I'll find an old light stummel, weigh it, soak it in oil, let it dry out over a few months, weighing every now and then.

It sounds like we share a tendency to worry maybe a bit more than is necessary. The sodium silicate solution should do the trick. I have a few pipes that will definitely get that treatment - some due to chamber charring.

Something that might reassure you: I gave one of the unsmoked 1914 pipes to a friend who does not baby his pipes. (Aside from what his lighting method does to rims, he cannot be accused of abusing them, either.) He immediately smoked it as he would smoke any pipe. No calamity ensued, and I expect the pipe will survive him.

 

[Speak Easy]

I thought this one was pretty slick too.

SASIENI RARE 1939 EIGHT DOT PATENT 1513428 SILVER MOUNT PRINCE 28 ESTATE PIPE | eBay

How often do you find an Eight Dot with a Sterling Silver Mount?. Baring Patent No.1513428 and fishtail Sasieni logo, this Prince is really sleek and quintessentially English with a classic squat Apple bowl with thick walls and a healthy sized chamber for the bowl's overall size.

www.ebay.com

 

[buroak]

I thought this one was pretty slick too.

SASIENI RARE 1939 EIGHT DOT PATENT 1513428 SILVER MOUNT PRINCE 28 ESTATE PIPE | eBay

How often do you find an Eight Dot with a Sterling Silver Mount?. Baring Patent No.1513428 and fishtail Sasieni logo, this Prince is really sleek and quintessentially English with a classic squat Apple bowl with thick walls and a healthy sized chamber for the bowl's overall size.

www.ebay.com

Indeed! Deadmanspipes has been churning out a steady stream of white whales, unicorns, and other marvels. I have a backlog of concluded auctions - including several of his - I would like to add to this thread. I just have not had the time to make numerous posts with uploaded photos.

The number of very old and very rare pipes still landing on the market has been astounding. I had assumed we would hit something like “peak estate pipe” years ago, especially with all of the interest from Asian buyers. It seemed we had to be at the end of deceased Silent and Greatest Generation smokers’ attics, desk drawers, and shoeboxes. I was very, very wrong - just like the people who wrote The Limits to Growth in the early 1970s. High prices keep bringing more pipes to market. Pretty soon we’ll be fracking for estate pipes.

 

[Speak Easy]

Indeed! Deadmanspipes has been churning out a steady stream of white whales, unicorns, and other marvels. I have a backlog of concluded auctions - including several of his - I would like to add to this thread. I just have not had the time to make numerous posts with uploaded photos.

The number of very old and very rare pipes still landing on the market has been astounding. I had assumed we would hit something like “peak estate pipe” years ago, especially with all of the interest from Asian buyers. It seemed we had to be at the end of deceased Silent and Greatest Generation smokers’ attics, desk drawers, and shoeboxes. I was very, very wrong - just like the people who wrote The Limits to Growth in the early 1970s. High prices keep bringing more pipes to market. Pretty soon we’ll be fracking for estate pipes.

I guess all my hunting at Estate sales, EBay, and various other online auctions makes me a wildcater!

 

[xrundog]

I think it’s less about selling stuff that’s laying around and more the liquidation of collections amassed over many years.

 

[buroak]

I think it’s less about selling stuff that’s laying around and more the liquidation of collections amassed over many years.

That is an excellent point! What Deadmanspipes has been selling was assuredly not gleaned from estate sales.

The 1910s-1940s in-the-rough estate pipes, however, still have me in awe at the depth of “reserves.”

 

[georged]

Treasurepipes is having a big day. But I thought this one would approach $2k.

DUNHILL'S SHELL PATENT MAGNUM PIPE 1925 | eBay

MARKED:DUNHILL'S SHELL. 1 PIPE OR ENTIRE COLLECTIONS. MAKE SURE TO SUPER SIZE THE PHOTOS FOR A BETTER VIEW. LENGTH: 8". WEIGHT : 4.9o z.

www.ebay.com

The badly done repair band hurt its value.

It's really sad... the batch of giant blocks Dunhill used for their magnums during that period were not properly trimmed (I've had a number of them cross my bench out of the 60-70 that were ever produced.)

The most likely reason was the briar seller/supplier "cheated" on their size in order to fill an order for oversize blocks by leaving some pulpy wood on the shank end. (follow the money strikes again)

The pipes themselves were really well done in cut and line terms, though. The stems are INSANELY good.

 

[Terry Lennox]

With pipes of that age, that have not been smoked, or smoked often, the wood has significantly dried out, which makes it much more liable to crack when smoked, often with the first bowl.
The treatment is to remove cake and coat the bowl with a silicate mixture (George has a video on how to do this on YouTube) which is allowed to thoroughly dry. Then start smoking with a very slow cadence, letting the bowl go out and relighting, for the first dozen or so bowls, until the silicate has a carbon covering.
Then you can smoke the pipe, as long as you're careful not to get it hot.

I have had old estates start crackling when smoked for the first time after a rehab. An old Sasieni that I love makes a popping sound when it gets to a certain temp. I don't smoke it because of this.

 

[Terry Lennox]

Clearly Deadman's Pipes is selling some major collections. These pipes were acquired over many years by people who had the taste and the means to buy the best stuff. How much more is out there? Who knows. Niko who owns The Danish Pipe Shop recently wrote about a reclusive collector in Denmark who had a taste for British briars. Many unsmoked pieces came on his site over the past year. He bought the collection from the widow. Over 1000 pieces.

 

[Terry Lennox]

Here is the link to his story.
LINK

 

[OzPiper]

Here is the link to his story.
LINK

He (@jensen) was a member of the Forums
I recall one of his posts where he stated that he had over 70 Blakemar pipes, most unsmoked
I suspect a lot of the English estates currently listed by The Danish Pipe Shop are from his collection