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sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
20,068
46,444
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
To all: I wonder if it would be "safe" to at least posit the following. The COM stamp LONDON over MADE in straight line block is the first Comoy's COM stamp. Of course I will note that when dealing with things this long ago, almost nothing is ABSOLUTELY certain, but there are certain things that given the evidence, are most likely.
Looking at my copy of the circa 1909 catalog, which is stated by Comoy to be their first, LONDON over MADE would not be their earliest COM stamp, but more accurately, the earliest that we can document. They had 30 years of production before they released this catalog, and they claim not to have done any advertising. So, no easily dated print documentation.

The display line up of their brands, like the PRIMA, show LONDON MADE on a single line. All of the images in this catalog are photographs and the only one time that the COM stamp occurs in an image it is LONDON over MADE. So be happy that you have that.
 

mannerhead

Lurker
Jun 20, 2024
6
19
@sablebrush52

Of course how you stated it would be more accurate, and I'm glad of your precision in place of my lack of it. Stating it to be the earliest documented is clearer. Regarding the COM stamp as shown in the catalog, I'm not clear about where you say it's stated in a single line. I think you're saying somewhere other than what is stamped on the photos of the pipes, and only one photo has the COM stamp visible at all, and that stamp is the two line version. Is that correct? Please accept my apologies if I've misunderstood something.
 
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sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
20,068
46,444
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
@sablebrush52

Of course how you stated it would be more accurate, and I'm glad of your precision in place of my lack of it. Stating it to be the earliest documented is clearer. Regarding the COM stamp as shown in the catalog, I'm not clear about where you say it's stated in a single line. I think you're saying somewhere other than what is stamped on the photos of the pipes, and only one photo has the COM stamp visible at all, and that stamp is the two line version. Is that correct? Please accept my apologies if I've misunderstood something.
You're correct. The only LONDON over MADE appears on one photographed pipe.

On another page Comoy's displays a line up of their various brands of pipes:

Comoy's Comoy's H.C. Yomoc Standard
PRIMA LONDON MADE LONDON MADE LONDON MADE LONDON MADE
LONDON MADE

Damn it, I had these nicely spaced with the name centered over the LONDON Made and this stupid software isn't retaining the spacing!

The top row are all the slanted cursive logo font with the swash "s" curving back under the name. The other rows are block. The H.C. is block in an oval frame. And all references to their LONDON MADE pipes are in capital letters. This slanted long swash logo was discontinued around 1921 - 22 if I remember correctly. I'd have to spend more time than I have currently to find that bit of documentation.

Catalogs are wonderful sources for information. For example, it was thought that Sasieni Town Names started around 1928. I found town names in Sasieni's 1924 catalog, published by their US distributor, Rapaport. I let Jon know and he did some further digging and found ads, beginning around November of 1923, featuring town names. We now know that Sasieni Town Names began in late 1923.

Ads are also a great source of information. Jon was able to use them to target the point at which Barling stopped stamping their stems with their REG'd number and replaced it with the BARLING Design stem stamp as having occurred in March of 1951, when they announced the new stem stamp.

And if anyone tells you that they have a '40's Guinea Grain, they're mistaken. Barling didn't add that line until 1953 (or maybe it was 1952, my brain is getting fuzzy).

Accuracy matters. There's a listing in a 1917 catalog for a Barling Nibblick. So far, the few Barling Nibblicks that have shown up have been sandblasts. Does this mean that Barling invented the sandblast and Dunhill took credit for it, as some pipe nerds have stated? We don't know, because none have shown up from that period. The Nibblicks that I have are clearly late 1930's. We don't know for a fact that that 1917 Nibblick was a sandblast.
 
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Rpink53

Can't Leave
Jan 31, 2020
308
3,914
Pittsburgh, PA

This one is tempting me. Wish the blast was a bit nicer. I don't recall seeing another Ashton opera, although I'm sure there are plenty.
 
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greeneyes

Lifer
Jun 5, 2018
2,187
12,362
A cooler head prevailed and I abstained from bidding, despite immense admiration, for this rarity.
 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
20,068
46,444
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
A cooler head prevailed and I abstained from bidding, despite immense admiration, for this rarity.
This looks a lot like the Barling Motor windcap. It's missing the vents.
 

greeneyes

Lifer
Jun 5, 2018
2,187
12,362
An unsmoked Sasieni Regent did quite well (pre-carb looks like OEM Sasieni to me)

Same seller as the Dunhill. Anyone know anything about this person? They seem to have quite the collection.
 

bayareabriar

Part of the Furniture Now
May 8, 2019
993
1,623
I'm not entirely convinced about the "unsmokedness" of this pipe. There's a little suggestion of darkening at the rim, and the logo stamp has some significant wear. Maybe barely smoked?
I saw the same thing. Along with the line under the ball of the stinger.
 

ssjones

Moderator
Staff member
May 11, 2011
18,754
12,221
Maryland
postimg.cc
I'm not entirely convinced about the "unsmokedness" of this pipe. There's a little suggestion of darkening at the rim, and the logo stamp has some significant wear. Maybe barely smoked?
I guess any pipe could be made to be "unsmoked". This looks pretty consistent with the few unsmoked Sasieni's that I've owned, but I don't have a large body of work

Many of this sellers pictures are pretty bad. I asked for a few additional pictures of one I'm interested in.

1719137944423.png
 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
20,068
46,444
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
I guess any pipe could be made to be "unsmoked". This looks pretty consistent with the few unsmoked Sasieni's that I've owned, but I don't have a large body of work

Many of this sellers pictures are pretty bad. I asked for a few additional pictures of one I'm interested in.

View attachment 319286
I see a touch of rim darkening at 9 o'clock, some circular rubbing marks at 11 to 12 o'clock, a deposit of some sort that couldn't be erased between 121 and 1, and there's the fading discoloration at about 10:30. This, and the buffed down nomenclature raise questions. Maybe it wasn't smoked, but just handled A LOT.