no name French Briar

[Pypkė]

Another mystery pipe. I don't have much hope of learning who made this pipe. I found it on eBay for cheap. Was listed for a while. It's a no name pipe and the only stamp on it is "French Briar" with a couple floral stamps - highlighted with gold paint.

It's not a small pipe - chamber width is 0.9" and chamber depth is 1.44". It didn't have much of any cake to scrape out and I think it will clean up nicely. Screw-on stem makes me think this pipe may have some age on it. Nicest thing is the cap. Should make for a good smoker (I hope) for outdoors.

 

[xrundog]

Oh yeah! Generic French Briar. The stamp embellishments are very art nouveau. Nickel cap and a horn stem. I’d call it 1900ish. Could easily be older.
Looks like it’s in good shape.

 

[burleybreath]

Cool project. What's French briar...Algerian?

 

[OzPiper]

What's French briar...Algerian?

Corsican

 

[Pypkė]

I'll post some pics after I clean it up. Found one check on the stummel. I think the pipe was hardly smoked at all. Bowl's pretty clean.

Horn stem... wow...

 

[xrundog]

Cool project. What's French briar...Algerian?

I’ve always thought it was Algerian. Typical French colonialism. France owns Algeria therefore anything coming out of Algeria is French. The Algerian Briar stamp shows up around 1930. From the late 19th century to shortly after WWI, the majority of American branded pipes are stamped French Briar.

 

[Pypkė]

Algeria was part of France once. I suppose the briar could have been sourced from Corisca too. They grew high quality briar there too, and it is part of France too. Never seen a pipe stamped "Coriscan Briar." Everybody wanted French, because it's French... non?

 

[xrundog]

Algeria was part of France once. I suppose the briar could have been sourced from Corisca too. They grew high quality briar there too, and it is part of France too. Never seen a pipe stamped "Coriscan Briar." Everybody wanted French, because it's French... non?

I think maybe the stummels were being turned in France and being sent to the US for finishing. Millions of pipes over maybe 50 years. Could Corsica have handled that volume? I dunno. Maybe it was a combination of sources just labeled French. Pure conjecture on my part.

 

[OzPiper]

Algeria was part of France once. I suppose the briar could have been sourced from Corisca too. They grew high quality briar there too, and it is part of France too. Never seen a pipe stamped "Coriscan Briar." Everybody wanted French, because it's French... non?

A 1922 FLC - English silver marks
And NO country of origin stamp


An a contemporary ad from a 1922 issue of the Melbourne Argus pointing to its French (St Claude) and Corsican origin

 

[GKChesterton]

That's a sweet pipe.