Meershaum Cutty Just Arrived!

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zack24

Lifer
May 11, 2013
1,726
2
This one just arrived yesterday- In quite nice shape- stem overclocks about a quarter turn. I think I remember seeing something on here about removing a bone screw and resetting it- that may not be possible in this case because the stem screws on the shank...meaing I would have to break the glue joint on the shank and it looks awfully fragile...I might try making a really thin sterling silver spacer to correct it...

I mainly bought it to provide a nice cutty model for one I want to make in briar- I'm thinking of keeping the lines and reducing the overall height to something a little more manageable...

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condorlover1

Lifer
Dec 22, 2013
7,995
26,613
New York
French or Austrian late 19th century. Was this an Ebay discovery? The stem color was caused by 'ox blood' staining during manufacture. The bottom third of the bowl to the left is genuine tobacco coloration and the case looks to be in pretty decent shape. A paper washer works wonders as a spacer or you can pick up a pack of hole reinforcers from a stationary store and then fit and trim down with a razor blade. Enjoy smoking it.

 

menuhin

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 21, 2014
642
3
Zack, please enjoy this meerschaum cutty pipe, especially when it is in such a good shape.
One pipe I acquired in 2017 is a meerschaum cutty pipe that looks very similar to yours here in the photo, and it has been the gateway pipe for me to enter the meerschaum world of pipes. It was an Aha moment after I cleaned it and smoked folded flake in it - perhaps my skill of smoking flakes in a folded manner was not great, but it immediately became the champion pipe for me to smoke flakes, and it delivers more than 10 times better than other briar pipes I have for smoking flakes fold-and-stuff.
I also became awake of the cutty shape design - of my meerschaum cutty and my clay cutty, plus the spur at their bottom. That led me to have a blunt conclusion after finishing the first two smokes of flakes inside this meerschaum cutty - all briar cutty pipes are mostly gimmicky despite some makers such as Eltang create beautiful briar pipes in cutty shape. Cutty is a very functional, if not also aesthetic form, for the material meerschaum and ton / clay. Meerschaum and clay are designed to burn hot, especially when they are in shapes that have thin wall, during smoking, and that is the function of the spur at the bottom of these 18/19th century pipes - for holding with two fingers when the bowl is hot during smoking. The chamber of cutty is also designed to be pointing very much forward away from the face of the smoker, instead of pointing upwards like most briar pipes. This is very elegant as the smoke will not easily gets to the eyes or the face of the smoker, and this is facilitated by the fact that clay and meerschaum will not burn those, and the material just functions normally as the tobacco burns towards the bottom of the bowl, regardless of the temperature the tobacco burns.
I too understand there is the school of smoking where smokers sip so slowly that it barely keeps the amber lit. I too have pipes in shapes of or similar to the cutty shapes. A horn shape pipe burnt through badly during my earlier year of smoking - the bowl wall nearer to me got burnt through, i.e. when the amber went "under" the bowl. I have three churchwardens in the shape of cutty and I had to be really careful when I smoke them so that charred rim does not develop on the side facing me. On the other hand, there is totally no such worries when I use my meerschaum cutty pipe - no matter how wet the piece of flake maybe and how hot it may burn, and meerschaum absorbs moisture really well too - better than briar does I have to say.
I am going to enjoy folded flake in my meerschaum cutty now.

Have fun with yours!

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
That's a pipe that needs its case with its really slender shank and stem, not something to stuff in your jacket or smoke while driving, but what a dramatic and lithe pipe.

 

condorlover1

Lifer
Dec 22, 2013
7,995
26,613
New York
Menuhin has just summarized in two paragraphs why I exclusively smoke and obsessively collect these pipes with over 200 to my name accumulated over 30 years!

 

zack24

Lifer
May 11, 2013
1,726
2
Menuhin...words of wisdom. It’s amazing what I manage to learn from the forum on a daily basis...
Condorlover- that sounds like an amazing collection!

 

condorlover1

Lifer
Dec 22, 2013
7,995
26,613
New York
Zack24 I have posted pictures over parts of my collection on here over the years. As far as I know the two 'cutty nuts' are myself and Weezell although I am sure there are others floating around. I got into them after my dentist in the mid 80s told mean to stop smoking clay pipes due to pipe notches on my teeth.

 

achtman

Might Stick Around
Nov 25, 2017
62
159
Here's another example. The only problem I have with this pipe is that the bone screw is so thin that it is hard to get a pipe cleaner through it and I have to use specially thin pipecleaners. Other than that it smokes well and is a real pleasure. As indicated it burns hot and the nipple makes it easier to hold.
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Mark

 

condorlover1

Lifer
Dec 22, 2013
7,995
26,613
New York
I use the long pipe cleaners that can be purchased in Modeling Stores, the are thin and very soft and are perfect for cleaning this type of pipe.

 

zack24

Lifer
May 11, 2013
1,726
2
I've gone about as far as I want to with this one- eliminated the caked up lava on the rim and got rid of the cake in the bowl with scraping and sanding I also used a hard yellow buffing compund I bought in Germany that I use for final polish on stems- it does a great job of removing surface discoloration without removing the beautiful patina. Finally, the stem was clocking about 1/16 turn past where it needed to be- I worked it down on a flat surface with 600 grit then 1200 grit and sealed it with a touch of CA...and it now twists perfectly into place...
...and does anyone have any thoughts on the engraving? IT almost looks like the owner's initials...
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condorlover1

Lifer
Dec 22, 2013
7,995
26,613
New York
Monogram of the owners initials I would assume. I have several like this and quite a few that give the date when the pipe was gifted and for what reason. Funny enough weddings seem to be the main culprits that cause engraving on pipe stems. I know that Dave aka Weesel has one that has an 1881 Xmas dedication on the band but that thing is a bloody enormous 'cutty' incinerator. If you ask him nicely he will probably post a picture of the thing if anyone is interested.

 

weezell

Lifer
Oct 12, 2011
13,653
49,163
1881 Christmas Meer, smoked enough Condor Plug though that the last few days to supply the U.K. As Simon said, it's a rather large bowl...
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