Who Might Have Made This Freehand Pipe? With Pictures.

[mawnansmiff]

I recently posted a thread about a pipe I had won on Ebay stamped 'Pipe Lon' which I discovered was a chap based in the Virgin Islands in the 1960-1970's called Lon Schwartz who had pipemakers send him what they had made for him to sell mainly to tourists. He is accredited with introducing Preben Holm's pipes into the US. I've always fancied having a freehand pipe but have been put off by the chairleg stems they invariably sport so to see this one with a saddle stem caught my eye.
Well the pipe arrived yesterday and it's a corker though a little larger than I anticipated. As can be seen it has some glorious ring grain all around the square bowl and plateau on the top so obviously not some cheapo basket pipe.
However it is only stamped 'Pipe Lon' with his logo, no maker's name or even country of origin. Is anyone prepared to make a stab at who might have made the pipe and in what sort of time period? I don't know when Lon stopped trading by the way so I know pretty much nothing of him or the pipe.

I fired it up last night with some Golden Glow and noticed it had a kind of musty taste to the smoke so I shall be getting the alcohol and salt out later to try and neutralize that.
Any suggestions for a maker will be most welcome chaps ::
Regards,
Jay.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Check out this link.
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/pipe-lon

 

[shaintiques]

Cool looking pipe.

 

[fluffie666]

That is an interesting pipe you have. Although I have no new information to give you, I can tell you about a conversation I had with Mark Tinsky about pipe carvers and pipe retailers, that might be relevant. Pipe makers would go into shops in order to try and get the retailers to sell their pipes. Preben Holm had Pibe Dan and later, Ben Wade. In Manhattan, New York, there was E. Wilke, Ed Burak's shop, Nat Sherman and Barclay Rex. These pipe shops sold pipes made in many different factories and the pipes were made by many different carvers. They also sold within. For instance, some of Ed Burak's pipes might be sold in the E. Wilke shop with E. Wilke stamping on the pipes. The only way to truly differentiate between pipes made from one maker or another would be the style of carving or the way a pipe was put together. A lot of the lesser details were indistinguishable from one pipe to another because not many carvers who sold pipes from these shops were looking to be noticed. They were just trying to sell pipes. In short, anyone could have made your pipe.

Now, what I think is interesting about yours is the relation of Pipe Lon and Preben Holm. There are some old and odd looking Preben Holm creations out in the world. I'm not saying yours was made by Preben Holm but due to the relation he had with Pipe Lon, you never know.

I've noticed that one of the great things about smoking, collecting pipes and life is possibility.

I think your pipe is an awesome find and I hope it serves you well.

Congratulations on that one. 100% winner in my book.

 

[aldecaker]

I do not know anything about the pipe, but felt compelled to comment anyway. Most pipes that are "unique" or "break the mold" are, to my eye, intensely ugly. That one, however, is just damned neat. I've never seen a squared-off pipe that appeals to me like this one does. Excellent find!

 

[mawnansmiff]

Well thanks chaps for chiming in. Fluffie, what you had to say was most interesting. Alas, it would seem that 'anyone' could have made my pipe from an up and coming well known name to a casual carver who would knock out the odd pipe as and when he was inclined to do so.
Whatever, it most certainly is an interesting pipe but as to whether it's a keeper I have yet to decide. I've smoked two more bowls in it and I find it kind of awkward feeling in the hand. I'm much more comfortable with a 'traditional' pipe in my hand (I'm not a clencher) like my preferred bent bulldog shape. Time will tell ::
Thanks again chaps.
Regards,
Jay.