Every once in a while, a pipe shows up out of the blue and not on my watch list. Yesterday, while looking at watched ebay ads, I found this Kapruff. I knew it was pre-Republic by the Made in Ireland stamp but I didn't recognize the shape. Fortunately, Peterson author and guru, Mark Irwin, is very responsive to emails.
He told me that the Kapruff finish was first seen in the 1937 catalog (which also mentions the innertube). That stamping ended in 1949, so that give me a pretty narrow date range (47-49). He sent me two pictures of the shape, 411 which is referred to as the Bullcap.
The pipe was sold by a UK dealer and enroute to me here in the US. Stay tuned for a restoration update via the Reborn Pipes blog. The looks to be in excellent condition.
He told me that the Kapruff finish was first seen in the 1937 catalog (which also mentions the innertube). That stamping ended in 1949, so that give me a pretty narrow date range (47-49). He sent me two pictures of the shape, 411 which is referred to as the Bullcap.
The pipe was sold by a UK dealer and enroute to me here in the US. Stay tuned for a restoration update via the Reborn Pipes blog. The looks to be in excellent condition.
