Interesting Completed Ebay Auctions - British Pipes

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jguss

Lifer
Jul 7, 2013
2,909
8,076
I'm very fond of Barlings as many here know. And I am very very fond of Barling Quaints, those one-of-a-kind custom carved pipes that Barling made.

There is some lore regarding these, which I can't verify, but supposedly an otherwise high grade stummel that had a flaw which would preclude it ever being a smooth, would instead be turned over to one of Barling's master carvers (no, they weren't all carved by Horry Jameson) to be turned into a unique design, paneled, carved into various geometric shapes, fluted, cut with "tribal" slices and/or rusticated with what Tad Gage refers to as "chicken scratchings".

There is a huge variety of treatments and most of them are, at least to me, quite beautiful and interesting. I just won another of these earlier today. It didn't come cheap, but it's one of the more unusual stylings I've seen in quite a while and I really liked it. It's going to need a bit of work to get it ready for prime time, but that's part of the fun.

Thank goodness no one took a buffer to it, so everything is still crisp. Here's the "before". I'll post an "after" once it's been cleaned. Here's hoping that there are no unpleasant surprises.

View attachment 406761

Wonderful purchase Jesse, congratulations. Made about 1947 (or given the lingering impact of the War perhaps a couple of years later) if the box is original to the pipe.
 
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sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
22,956
58,307
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
Wonderful purchase Jesse, congratulations. Made about 1947 (or given the lingering impact of the War perhaps a couple of years later) if the box is original to the pipe.
I don't think that the box is original as it has a model number written on it, and quaints didn't have model numbers. Still, I like the box for the tobacconist's stamp that's inside of it.
 
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jguss

Lifer
Jul 7, 2013
2,909
8,076
I don't think that the box is original as it has a model number written on it, and quaints didn't have model numbers. Still, I like the box for the tobacconist's stamp that's inside of it.

Could be right, but I’ve often heard that in the old days when someone bought a pipe the tobacconist reached under the counter and put it in any box of the same brand that was lying at hand. If true a box can be both original to the pipe (at time of sale) and not original to the pipe (at time of manufacture).

But as with most speculation it’s interesting but unprovable.
 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
22,956
58,307
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
Could be right, but I’ve often heard that in the old days when someone bought a pipe the tobacconist reached under the counter and put it in any box of the same brand that was lying at hand. If true a box can be both original to the pipe (at time of sale) and not original to the pipe (at time of manufacture).

But as with most speculation it’s interesting but unprovable.
I have a couple of thoughts about this. Aside from a Schrodinger's cat quantum superposition framing of the box's"originalness" there is the option to define the box's "originalness" as being the box in which the pipe was placed before and when it left the factory.

Also, I have some insight into how stores handle boxes, since I worked in retail for almost a decade, specifically a jeweler's. We kept all of the outside boxes for inventory that came with them, such as watches, on shelves in the backroom.

When a sale was made it was my responsibility to retrieve a box and any papers for that watch from the backroom and bring them up to the counter. This was to be done as quickly as possible so as not to delay the sucker customer and to free me up to attend to other marks customers.

So we didn't match serial numbers, to the extent that there were any, (there weren't) just made sure that the box and paperwork matched that specific make and model. I will guarantee you that an exact match of original box to watch was purely by chance.
 
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runscott

Lifer
Jun 3, 2020
1,451
3,312
Washington State
I don't know, but I've owned around ten of them, and this one just doesn't look right. The bowl looks a little short and doesn't start coming in at the top as much as others I've owned. It looks topped, but the rim looks original.

I guess, without thinking, I've put myself in danger of doing "it" again;i.e-insulting the seller of a pipe. If that's the case, my apologies - I'm certain the seller didn't modify the pipe.
 

ssjones

Moderator
Staff member
May 11, 2011
19,974
15,659
Covington, Louisiana
postimg.cc
I don't know, but I've owned around ten of them, and this one just doesn't look right. The bowl looks a little short and doesn't start coming in at the top as much as others I've owned. It looks topped, but the rim looks original.

I guess, without thinking, I've put myself in danger of doing "it" again;i.e-insulting the seller of a pipe. If that's the case, my apologies - I'm certain the seller didn't modify the pipe.
The lack of stamping put me off
 

ssjones

Moderator
Staff member
May 11, 2011
19,974
15,659
Covington, Louisiana
postimg.cc
Yeah.you are right about that. BUT i have no idea if that pipe runscot is mentioning could be Xl 90 but Made in Ireland at the same time
The XL90 shape wasn't used until the modern era, right? (although I can't find any online reference as to when the shape first appeared (and Mark's book also doesn't divulge that info either). But, it is not listed on the extensive 1947 catalog of shapes. So, it's unlikely you would find an XL90 with a MIR stamp. (right?)
 

NC TX ID pipeman

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 25, 2021
601
1,363
North Carolina,Texas,Idaho
The XL90 shape wasn't used until the modern era, right? (although I can't find any online reference as to when the shape first appeared (and Mark's book also doesn't divulge that info either). But, it is not listed on the extensive 1947 catalog of shapes. So, it's unlikely you would find an XL90 with a MIR stamp. (right?)
It is my understanding that at the time 9BC was discontinued (about 1969) there was a period with either one and they started making XL 90 shape in 70s??? I do not remember exactly so take it with grain of salt. My 9BC Deluxe is from 40s..
 
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NC TX ID pipeman

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 25, 2021
601
1,363
North Carolina,Texas,Idaho
You stole it for that price🤣you do not see briar like this with birds eye too much today...
I'm always a sucker for tapered stem Rhodesians. I picked up this GBD 2nd line shape 9241, the kissing cousin to the 9242. Restoration with comparison to the 9242 to follow.

Curiously, it has "NASH" stamped on the top of the stem near the shank.


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