When is a Barling not a Barling?

[mawnansmiff]

Thanks for that Bill, however I hear on the grapevine that Sablebrush is not available at the moment, mores the pity!
Regards,
Jay.

 

[bonehed]

He'll turn up... it's still morning in California.

 

[mawnansmiff]

Right then folks, I finally got around to taking close up photos of the rim and bowl. Hopefully this should clear up any doubts as to whether it is a meer or no.
I did a quick sand up and swab with a rag soaked in alcohol. I have again had it under the microscope and cannot see any interface of meer/briar. That along with the fact that a darning needle fails to make a scratch assures me that there is no meer in this pipe.
So again folks, I am at your mercy.....is it indeed a Barling bowl and if so, what shape number should it have?
Fingers crossed this end,
Regards,
Jay.

 

[dmcmtk]

My answer is......I don't know. The finish, going by its regularity, seems to be a rusticated one, which I have never seen on a Barling's briar pipe. I'm going to stick with......I don't know...

 

[doctorbob]

My laxey meer is pale brown, not white. I also once had a barling that looked similar on finish, color, and even had a little metal collar on the end of the shank. It didn't have a reverse tenon though. Mine was a meer product though, and didn't smoke well.
Doc

 

[jensen]

I still think it is a Manx african meer from the Isle of Man grade black coral.
I scratched in both an unsmoked briarbowl and in an unsmoked african meer,

scratches in both bowls.

 

[mawnansmiff]

Jensen, fancy betting a shilling it isn't a meer?
I was just doing (yet another) a trawl of the internet and spotted a Barling 352B that very much resembled mine only it was smooth and had a regular tapered stem. Also it was 2cm longer.
Regards,
Jay.
PS:Come back Jesse, all is forgiven :wink:

 

[newbroom]

Shoot, I can't find my glasses.

 

[simong]

So it was a meershaum after all then?

 

[pipestud]

I don't have a shilling to spare... but, since Barling's never made a rusticated briar pipe and it looks like a bunch of other pressed meer Barling's that I've had come through here, I'm betting its a Barling's. And remember, pressed meerschaum is a lot different (and more dense), than block meer. That's why it'll take a stain so well. Still, I have been fooled before... lots of times.
Pipestud

 

[simong]

My dear poor boy! I on the other hand do have a few shillings to spare, & after seeing an identical pipe being sold as a barling meer the challenge of the O.P. Piqued my interest.

Why no response from such a wise an adamant Cornishman! Yes sir! You sir! I'm calling you out to duel!

 

[mawnansmiff]

Simon, apologies, Been busy elsewhere. Your challenge is accepted...my shilling says it'briar :nana:
BTW, I am a Yorkshireman living in Cornwall.
Also, what happened about the research you offered to do for me at your local tobacconist? I'll bet you have forgotten, but not putting a shilling on that one ::
Pipestud, that's a pretty bold statement to make re Barling's never making a rustic briar. Where is Jesse when I need him most? I need him to look at my Barling's travel pipe on another thread.
Regards,
Jay.

 

[jamist]

Howdy,
Apologies for jumping in the middle of the discussion. And I hesitate to disagree with such a noted expert of the briar as PipeStud. But.... Barling never made rusticated pipes? Of course they did! Here's just one example that sold recently on eBay:
Barling Rusticated Ye Olde Wood TVF
Blessings,
Jim D.

 

[dmcmtk]

Here's just one example that sold recently on eBay

Lovely pipe, but the FOSSIL finish was a sand blast. The listing is mistaken in that regard.

 

[mawnansmiff]

I too realised the distinction twixt 'sandblasted' and rusticated' only after I posted my last reply.
Anyway, that matters not. What does matter is that I may well have lost a shilling to Simon
More details to follow on the morrow (am in bed now and this bloody Kindle is killing me).
Regards,
Jay.