Interesting Completed Ebay Auctions - British Pipes

[jaingorenard]

For a long while I've been after an "old" Charatan, something predating the more "modern" pipes of the '50s and, especially '60s onward and, to my mind, they are the absolute devil to date with any accuracy. Could anyone say with any certainty "this is a 1940s Charatan"? In any case, I finally came across an old Charatan with hallmarks and mention of vendor which helps to date it with reasonable accuracy and put up a bit of a fight for it. The nomenclature on the pipe reads "Charatan / London / Made" and, opposite that, "DAMMAN / MELBOURNE" (the likely seller). The hallmarks have an "FC" in oval, and Birminham date letters corresponding to 1917. The stem isn't quite flush with the shank, perhaps due to age-related shrinkage? The ad is from a 1921 "The Speculum", a newsletter for Melbourne (AUS) medical students.

Vintage Charatan London Made Damman Melbourne Sterling Mounted Smoked Pipe | eBay

Shows use. Wording is faint. I've put in the title what I could make out on the pipe. I also try to find and fun/exciting & unusual pieces.

www.ebay.com

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Excellent find!

 

[orlandofurioso]

For a long while I've been after an "old" Charatan, something predating the more "modern" pipes of the '50s and, especially '60s onward and, to my mind, they are the absolute devil to date with any accuracy. Could anyone say with any certainty "this is a 1940s Charatan"? In any case, I finally came across an old Charatan with hallmarks and mention of vendor which helps to date it with reasonable accuracy and put up a bit of a fight for it. The nomenclature on the pipe reads "Charatan / London / Made" and, opposite that, "DAMMAN / MELBOURNE" (the likely seller). The hallmarks have an "FC" in oval, and Birminham date letters corresponding to 1917. The stem isn't quite flush with the shank, perhaps due to age-related shrinkage? The ad is from a 1921 "The Speculum", a newsletter for Melbourne (AUS) medical students.

Vintage Charatan London Made Damman Melbourne Sterling Mounted Smoked Pipe | eBay

Shows use. Wording is faint. I've put in the title what I could make out on the pipe. I also try to find and fun/exciting & unusual pieces.

www.ebay.com

View attachment 331560View attachment 331561View attachment 331562View attachment 331563View attachment 331564View attachment 331565View attachment 331566View attachment 331567View attachment 331569View attachment 331570

Congrats, excellent ! Nice semi-orific bit, so the stem is probably original.
Wonderful Charatan grain on this one .
Great job on the cleaning, try clean out the mortise a little further .

 

[greeneyes]

Excellent find!

Thank you, my friend. I sort of chuckle as it really looks no different than any of the other nearly-identical pipes I have. They all look like they came from the same warehouse.

Congrats, excellent ! Nice semi-orific bit, so the stem is probably original.
Great job on the cleaning, try clean out the mortise a little further .

Thanks, sir! Unfortunately there was bare briar left in the mortise after the admittedly lengthy cleaning, so I think shrinkage is to blame for the perhaps 0.4 mm gap and not the usual ring of lacquered tar. I could file down the end of the tenon at some point I suppose.

 

[greeneyes]

Nice pipe! Mortise is probably just dirty. I’ll bet the stem fits flush after a cleaning.

Oh it's bare briar in there. No gunk.

 

[xrundog]

Oh it's bare briar in there. No gunk.
View attachment 331621

My mistake. I had looked at the eBay link and drew conclusions from that. It’s too bad that didn’t do the trick.

 

[greeneyes]

My mistake. I had looked at the eBay link and drew conclusions from that. It’s too bad that didn’t do the trick.

It's just a detail, doesn't irk me much and wouldn't take much to fix.

 

[orlandofurioso]

Thank you, my friend. I sort of chuckle as it really looks no different than any of the other nearly-identical pipes I have. They all look like they came from the same warehouse.

Thanks, sir! Unfortunately there was bare briar left in the mortise after the admittedly lengthy cleaning, so I think shrinkage is to blame for the perhaps 0.4 mm gap and not the usual ring of lacquered tar. I could file down the end of the tenon at some point I suppose

Oh it's bare briar in there. No gunk.
View attachment 331621

A clean mortise, showing bare briar, is a nice thing to behold
Original 1917 silver band with crisp, still sharp hallmarks, yummie
What's not to love !

 

[sablebrush52]

For a long while I've been after an "old" Charatan, something predating the more "modern" pipes of the '50s and, especially '60s onward and, to my mind, they are the absolute devil to date with any accuracy. Could anyone say with any certainty "this is a 1940s Charatan"? In any case, I finally came across an old Charatan with hallmarks and mention of vendor which helps to date it with reasonable accuracy and put up a bit of a fight for it. The nomenclature on the pipe reads "Charatan / London / Made" and, opposite that, "DAMMAN / MELBOURNE" (the likely seller). The hallmarks have an "FC" in oval, and Birminham date letters corresponding to 1917. The stem isn't quite flush with the shank, perhaps due to age-related shrinkage? The ad is from a 1921 "The Speculum", a newsletter for Melbourne (AUS) medical students.

Vintage Charatan London Made Damman Melbourne Sterling Mounted Smoked Pipe | eBay

Shows use. Wording is faint. I've put in the title what I could make out on the pipe. I also try to find and fun/exciting & unusual pieces.

www.ebay.com

View attachment 331560View attachment 331561View attachment 331562View attachment 331563View attachment 331564View attachment 331565View attachment 331566View attachment 331567View attachment 331569View attachment 331570

Niice snag! Looking at the that semi-orific slot, i'm wondering i it started out as an orific bit and was later reshaped to create that slot.

 

[orlandofurioso]

Niice snag! Looking at the that semi-orific slot, i'm wondering i it started out as an orific bit and was later reshaped to create that slot.

For what reason Jesse ? Semi-orific slots were not uncommon back then.
I much appreciate my period Barling's with a similar one .

 

[sablebrush52]

For what reason Jesse ? Semi-orific slots were not uncommon back then.
I much appreciate my period Barling's with a similar one .

https://pipesmagazine.com/forums/attachments/pxl_20240822_132142570-2-jpg.331565/

The slight waviness of the north and south edges of the slot, plus what appears to be a vestigial impression of the orific bit at the center of the slot, most visible along the bottom center side.

 

[xrundog]

Niice snag! Looking at the that semi-orific slot, i'm wondering i it started out as an orific bit and was later reshaped to create that slot.

I’ve got some earlier English pipes with stems that are slotted like that. They look uniform enough that I don’t think they’ve been messed with. I guess they could be replaced, but the material and shaping look right. It’s hard to draw conclusions from a small sample though. All it takes is one or two tobacconists who liked slotting stems to screw up the data.

 

[orlandofurioso]

https://pipesmagazine.com/forums/attachments/pxl_20240822_132142570-2-jpg.331565/

The slight waviness of the north and south edges of the slot, plus what appears to be a vestigial impression of the orific bit at the center of the slot, most visible along the bottom center side.

I take your point, but why the alteration ?

 

[greeneyes]

Niice snag! Looking at the that semi-orific slot, i'm wondering i it started out as an orific bit and was later reshaped to create that slot.

I'm not sure. I'll have a closer look, and ask for an opinion from a guy I know who knows about such things. I'm curious about what this single data point represents, since I'm unable to find many examples of other pipes from this approximate date. There was one on Worthpoint, but the photos didn't survive the listing. [EDIT] Just seen now, in fact, that Ken Barnes (your compilation) had a similarly marked exemplar from 1912. Very similar indeed. And he also had a very exciting and ultra-rare pipe with the "FC" stamp in the stem for which I've also been waiting patiently for the clouds to part and fall into my collection.

 

[greeneyes]

The pipe, by the way, came from an estate in Evanston, Illinois. This particular location is significant to the genesis of the Chicagoland Pipe Collectors Club and several people with whom we are familiar in the pipe world. Perhaps it is from the estate of a recently-deceased collector from the area.

 

[Ahi Ka]

perhaps due to age-related shrinkage? The ad is from a 1921 "The Speculum", a newsletter for Melbourne (AUS) medical students….

Maybe @OzPiper could chime in here. Pretty sure he is an authority down under for age related shrinkage

 

[sablebrush52]

I'm not sure. I'll have a closer look, and ask for an opinion from a guy I know who knows about such things. I'm curious about what this single data point represents, since I'm unable to find many examples of other pipes from this approximate date. There was one on Worthpoint, but the photos didn't survive the listing. [EDIT] Just seen now, in fact, that Ken Barnes (your compilation) had a similarly marked exemplar from 1912. Very similar indeed. And he also had a very exciting and ultra-rare pipe with the "FC" stamp in the stem for which I've also been waiting patiently for the clouds to part and fall into my collection.

Ken asked me to do a bit of researching about the FC stamp. I thought the year was 1911. Oh well. That. plus a variety of other info sharing with Ken finally led to my being offered the 1883 Barling Magnum at dealer's cost. Woo hoo!

 

[OzPiper]

Maybe @OzPiper could chime in here. Pretty sure he is an authority down under for age related shrinkage

While I am happy to profer my opinion(s) gratuitously on a variety of subjects (of which I may have little or no expertise), I am willing to defer to the urologists amongst us on the subject of “Age-related Pipe Shrinkage Down Under”

 

[georged]

I’ve got some earlier English pipes with stems that are slotted like that. They look uniform enough that I don’t think they’ve been messed with. I guess they could be replaced, but the material and shaping look right. It’s hard to draw conclusions from a small sample though. All it takes is one or two tobacconists who liked slotting stems to screw up the data.

There is definitely a percentage of original orifics that were slotted after the fact floating around out there.

Cutting a "factory clean" slot by hand is one of those tougher to do than it looks things, though, for reasons that a tobacconist-backroom repair guy a century ago would not have been interested in pursuing, "juice ain't worth the squeeze" style. Meaning a close inspection will tell you if it's original or modified 99% of the time.

 

[sablebrush52]

I take your point, but why the alteration ?

Someone wanted a slot. My 1883 Barling magnum had a conversion from orific to semi orific at some point in its long life.

 

[orlandofurioso]

Someone wanted a slot. My 1883 Barling magnum had a conversion from orific to semi orific at some point in its long life.

Please excuse my ignorance, or perhaps I get lost in translation here.
What is a slot regarding the conversion from etc. ?
I imagine it makes for a more easy draw by opening up the orific bit ?
As I sometimes do with a factory bit to make it look more "artisanal" and more comfortable ?