Loewes/FLC Brand Connection?

[ssjones]

A pipe acquaintance from Australia sent me these interesting pipe photos and a question regarding FLC pipe and the possible connection to Loewe. I know little about Loewe.

From the buyer:

I won a couple of FLC pipes on EBay some months ago - will send photos of cleaned up pipe.

The pipes are hallmarked 1921 and 1922. The advertisement for FLC pipes are from The Argus (a Melbourne, Australia publication) dated March 1922, so they are from the same era.



I saw this article from Dave G (Danielplainview) on a 1919 Loewe he restored. The pipes look almost identical except for the stamps FLC on my pipes and L & Co on Dave’s. Dave’s Loewe has an orific bit, whereas both of mine have the later slotted bits.



The hallmarks, other than the FLC and Loewe difference, are identical.



My questions are:-

1) Is there a known association between Loewe and FLC ?

I have not been able to find any information on a Pipe Manufacturer called FLC Zoe what the initials stand for, and

2) The FLCs (according to the ad) are made in St Claude, France.

Could the Loewe also be made in St Claude and imported to England where it was given its silver trim rather than made wholly in England ?

 

[jguss]

Hi Al,

The quick answer is that while Loewe, by the early twenties wholly owned by the Adler family, was not incapable of sourcing pipes from France while marking them as London Made (a story for another day), your friend’s pipes had nothing to do with them. His pipes were made by Fieux Leduc & Co, a factory based in St Claude which produced many pipes for export to England and its Empire. Here’s a typical listing for the company under “Tobacco Pipe Makers” from the 1920 edition of the London City Directory:



Even clearer proof is this extract from the April 12, 1922 issue of Sydney’s Daily News and Commercial Shipping List showing trademarks granted to Fieux Leduc in regard to its pipe business in Australia:



Finally, for those interested in more background on the company, and who can read French (or muddle through using Google translate), here is one site worth a visit: Patrimoine en Bourgogne-Franche-Comté - Accueil - http://patrimoine.bourgognefranchecomte.fr/connaitre-le-patrimoine/les-ressources-documentaires/acces-aux-dossiers-dinventaire/etude/a0763d34-4a4d-4125-a441-e4110a5530c8.html.

Cheers,
Jon

 

[jensen]

When reading jguss I always think at what University he is a full time professor of pipes. Always a pleasure !

 

[ssjones]

Thanks Jon! Google didn't give up anything on FLC, nor the Fieux Leduc & Co tobacco pipes. That explains the Australian connection as well. My friend has since joined the forum, so I'm sure he'll see this now.

 

[Ahi Ka]

@jguss do you think there may be a FLC connection with the Kia ora pipes imported by partridge that we discussed towards the end of this thread?

Tell Me About This Pipe :: British Pipes

Howdy, Stumbled upon this the other day. Apart from some significant chatter on the stem, everything else is solid. I’m assuming the G.A mark on the shank is for the NZ tobacconist/importer as per the label inside the case. Hallmarks show it’s a Deguingand. I’ve seen some other E.D&S...

pipesmagazine.com

I know we both originally speculated it could be a GBD one, but I find the nomenclature of of FLC to be rather similar to the Kia ora ones (and well GBD for that matter). I always felt partridge just paid a manufacturer to replace their mark with his brand name.

 

[jguss]

@jguss do you think there may be a FLC connection with the Kia ora pipes imported by partridge that we discussed towards the end of this thread?

Tell Me About This Pipe :: British Pipes

Howdy, Stumbled upon this the other day. Apart from some significant chatter on the stem, everything else is solid. I’m assuming the G.A mark on the shank is for the NZ tobacconist/importer as per the label inside the case. Hallmarks show it’s a Deguingand. I’ve seen some other E.D&S...

pipesmagazine.com

I know we both originally speculated it could be a GBD one, but I find the nomenclature of of FLC to be rather similar to the Kia ora ones (and well GBD for that matter). I always felt partridge just paid a manufacturer to replace their mark with his brand name.

I think it's a good guess, but given how many players were making pipes in France am not sure how it could be nailed down. The frustrating thing about this kind of research is that for every certainty there are scores of guesses and hundreds of "no ideas".

 

[jguss]

When reading jguss I always think at what University he is a full time professor of pipes. Always a pleasure !

I think we need to find a tech billionaire to fund departments in pipe and tobacco history at various universities. Here on this forum we can supply the faculty to occupy the endowed chairs at each institution. Professor Jensen, would you prefer Cambridge or Oxford? Or perhaps something on the Continent or in the Americas?

 

[kenbarnes]

The mounting was done by Henry WARNER trading as HARVEY & WARNER - London. I am not sure if they were solely silversmiths or pipe-fitters and finishers - i.e. 'pipe-makers'. I do know that briar bowls bought from St. Claude France were used by different English manufacturers and certain shapes' origins were a 'giveaway'. This one looks so similar to a L&Co. I remember that my father was buying the Charatan Captain shape 215 oval stem from Vuilliard in St Claude because the clean bowls they produced in this shape were half the cost that Charatan could make them for. I think that this one was mounted, then fitted and frazed (virtually flush with the silver), finished and stamped in England. If the pipes were imported already fitted, the silver-band would be 'prouder' than it is in the photo.
I think some English manufacturers would buy one or two shapes from one French source and one from another etc. hoping the 'shapes would get lost in the mix'. I like this shape.

 

[OzPiper]

My thanks to Al for posting this thread for me. And thanks indeed to Jon and Ken for the information on Fieux Leduc & Co (or should that be Cie ?) and Henry Warner.
My Interest was piqued by the close resemblance to Dave G's 1919 Loewe and the near identical silver hallmarks.