Latest EBay Purchase...

[craig61a]

Perusing EBay the other day, I came across this smallish Calabash. Listed as “Ionian”, it appeared to be in rather good shape, and the BIN price was reasonable.

After receiving it did a light cleaning, it was already in fairly good shape. It had been well cared for.

A closer look at the stampings revealed “Aonian”, for which I was able to find some information, but not anything that would lead me to determine a manufacturer or a date of manufacture.

It’s a well made pipe, and the gasket fits well. I rubbed some mineral oil on it and let it soak in for a while before wiping it off with a paper towel to help renew the gasket.

The end of the shank appears to be briar, and there’s a hollow metal rod that joins the briar to the end of the gourd.

I loaded up some 2010 GLP Quiet Nights and lit it up.

A fine smoking pipe. ?

 

[jttnk]

Nice little Bash. Enjoy.

 

[renfield]

Very nice! May it bring many happy smokes.

 

[cshubhra]

Cool Pipe!

 

[craig61a]

Just a guess, but I think this pipe may have been manufactured between 1900 - 1930’s. The style of script and the flourish might indicate that.

 

[wordheavy]

That's a really cool pipe.

 

[mso489]

I like the scale of that pipe and the big U-turn in the shank. Some Calabash look like they take two hands for balance, not for the weight, but just for symmetry. But this one looks about right.

 

[weezell]

Nice!...

 

[diamondback]

Nice pipe!

I don’t even want to guess how long it took you to get through that bowl of delicious GLP QN.

 

[craig61a]

Nice pipe!

I don’t even want to guess how long it took you to get through that bowl of delicious GLP QN.

About 40 minutes... it’s a wide chamber, around an inch in diameter. That large diameter allowed for a good volume of smoke. And the taste was fabulous.
From the forward edge of the bowl to the end of the button is 5.5”, bottom of the shank to the top of the stem is 4”.

 

[mikethompson]

You had me at Austria.

Very nice little calabash! It looks like it either cleaned up very well, or was in good shape when you picked it up. Can I ask how much you paid?

 

[shanez]

Nice pick up!

 

[craig61a]

After having a smoke in it the other day, I set it aside for a while to dry out. Looking on the inside of the gourd I saw there was quite a bit of debris and crud down in the bottom.

Using a Scotch-Brite pad, alcohol and hemostats, I gently scrubbed down the insides, and fished little bits out of the bottom of the gourd. A bronze bore brush on a pistol rod worked good for the narrow area at the bottom.

Soaked a big fuzzy pipe cleaner in alcohol and shoved in the draft, let it sit for hour or so. Didn’t come out totally black, so that was a good sign.

While puttering around I did notice that bowl gasket would crumble quite easily during my machinations in the guts of the pipe. The bowl did fit snug, but became that way when there was only <1/16” gap between the bowl and the end of the gourd.

After I got done yesterday I set the pipe aside to dry. This evening I figured I might as well scrape out the old gasket and just replace it. Old dried out cork can be fickle, and the last thing I want deal with is shattered bowl.

So a nice quiet evening listening to the radio, doin pipe stuff...

 

[craig61a]

You had me at Austria.

Very nice little calabash! It looks like it either cleaned up very well, or was in good shape when you picked it up. Can I ask how much you paid?

A little over a Hundo...

 

[supperthyme]

Dang, I was watching this one ? I'm glad someone here snatched it up. Enjoy your new calabash, Craig!

 

[craig61a]

Dang, I was watching this one ? I'm glad someone here snatched it up. Enjoy your new calabash, Craig!

Sorry I bum-rapped ya there young lady... ?

Just happened to be scrollin through EBay, and stumbled on that. I could tell that it was a vintage piece by the photos. And the modern wooden ones with what looks like plastic on the shank go for a lot more than that... for that price it was a no-brainer.

 

[jhowell]

After having a smoke in it the other day, I set it aside for a while to dry out. Looking on the inside of the gourd I saw there was quite a bit of debris and crud down in the bottom.

Using a Scotch-Brite pad, alcohol and hemostats, I gently scrubbed down the insides, and fished little bits out of the bottom of the gourd. A bronze bore brush on a pistol rod worked good for the narrow area at the bottom.

Soaked a big fuzzy pipe cleaner in alcohol and shoved in the draft, let it sit for hour or so. Didn’t come out totally black, so that was a good sign.

While puttering around I did notice that bowl gasket would crumble quite easily during my machinations in the guts of the pipe. The bowl did fit snug, but became that way when there was only <1/16” gap between the bowl and the end of the gourd.

After I got done yesterday I set the pipe aside to dry. This evening I figured I might as well scrape out the old gasket and just replace it. Old dried out cork can be fickle, and the last thing I want deal with is shattered bowl.

So a nice quiet evening listening to the radio, doin pipe stuff...

Nice job on the new cork!

 

[craig61a]

Woke up early... So I figured I’d do a little more work on this.

The stem was just tad loose, so I tightened that up. Countersunk the draft hole at the end of the tenon. And waxed the bowl with white beeswax. Polished the top of the bowl to a high shine. It’s got a nice slight reddish-brown tint to it now.

And another coat of wax with the buffer. I’ll probably smoke it again later this afternoon.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

Congrats on having this beauty, Cool smokes are guaranteed,,

 

[supperthyme]

Sorry I bum-rapped ya there young lady... ?

Just happened to be scrollin through EBay, and stumbled on that. I could tell that it was a vintage piece by the photos. And the modern wooden ones with what looks like plastic on the shank go for a lot more than that... for that price it was a no-brainer.

Nothing to be sorry for! ☺ Sounds like you've already put some work into it and I hope it will serve you well.

There seem to be a lot of calabashes listed by sellers who have no clue what they're actually selling- people who can't tell the difference between genuine gourd and wood, or ceramic and meerschaum. Congrats on your authentic and beautiful acquisition.