Rare CPF Briar Pipe

[the85boro]

Hello all!
I am am new to this forum and I’m glad I have joined. I’ve been collecting and restoring estate pipes for a while now and recently picked up a pipe which is VERY interesting. The pipe is a C.P.F. Pipe. What makes this one very special according to quite a few experts in pipes is that it is a pre KB&B, CPF only Pipe which is briar and an animal themed pipe of a tiger. The pipe is gorgeous and very detailed. It was recently restored and touched up due to its age. Has a bone stem but the mouthpiece had to be customed made since the original was kissing when I found it. I could use some help valuing this pipe and getting as much info about is as possible. According to Rob, Steve Laug, and Ric Farrah we think it Is definitely pre 1898 and most likely pre 1883. I will provide a photo of it restored since it is still in transit back to me. I’ll post more when it arrives.

 

[the85boro]

 

[jpmcwjr]

Very interesting, to say the least.
In the meantime, have you some photos of its before state.
Once your photos are on a photo hosting site (such as Imgur.com; Postimage; Dropbox, etc. Photobucket), or on virtually any site, including this site's album such as eBay, Amazon, you-name-it, select the full sized image, then Control-click (Mac) or Right-click (Windows) on the image itself, then choose "copy image location" or similar words. Now paste that URL (the full web address, which should end in .jpg or .png) into the IMG box in the reply window of the thread you're posting to.
The site's album is also a good choice for displaying photos, and the same method works for obtaining the image's URL for copying into the IMG box.
There are other good illustrations and steps on how to post photos in the "Latest Discussions" box,

LINK to that thread

 

[mikethompson]

Sounds interesting, please post up some pictures of both the before and after.

 

[ssjones]

They are old and pop up from time to time. Here's some CPF restorations that are on the Reborn Pipes blog:

https://rebornpipes.com/tag/cpf-pipes/

 

[the85boro]

http://pipesmagazine.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/album/19499/354f8268-321b-4eee-b4d6-7a80dd04ffc5-600x450.jpg
http://pipesmagazine.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/album/19499/09026470-f37f-48e7-afab-1e14662cb2b3-600x600.png

 

[the85boro]

Here are two photos. One is before and the other agreed restoration by Ric with Briarville.com

 

[jguss]

There’s an old debate as to whether CPF was ever an independent company, or just created as a brand of KBB. I haven’t looked into it for a few years, but am quite sure KBB claimed to have utilized the CPF logo starting in 1883. Did anyone every settle this by finding evidence of CPF as an independent entity before that time? Just curious...
More to the point, great pipe!

 

[jpmcwjr]

Here's the first one.

 

[jpmcwjr]

 

[the85boro]

Yes, so there are a few sites of information that say CPF was it’s own company until KB&B bought them. Then after that all pipes were stamped with both CPF and KB&B. This reportedly happened between 1883 and 1898 which is why most of the experts I’ve talked to say it is a pre 1883 most likely. I have found meerschaum CPF pipes but not a single decorative briar like what I have. Nothing close to the craftsmanship of mine. The pipe shop owners i have shown snd spokeny with day it is very rare. Would be nice to know a value

 

[jguss]

as for the history behind the brand, all i can say is that i'm unaware of any evidence that cpf existed independently before its association with kbb (and i've looked many places where traces should have emerged: contemporary trade journals, nyc city directories through 1883, newspaper archives, etc). it doesn't mean that cpf didn't exist as a company, just that no traces have been found; but then proving a negative is always problematic. on the other hand i do have clear evidence that kbb claimed to have used the brand starting in 1883 (per their trademark application), and it's my belief that any cpf (however marked) produced from 1883 onward was made under kbb's ownership.
as for the pipe, it is indeed unusual and pretty. valuation is tough since it's a pretty specialized item, and setting a price where the seller and buyer population are both small is challenging; by definition pricing in such circumstances is pretty volatile, and depends on who's looking when you want to sell (same as with anything that's rare). i know there are some here who collect pipes from that era and hopefully they'll chime in with an informed opinion.