England, 1950s
“… Portland pipes make up one of the great mysteries of London pipe making. No one knows when Barling bought Portland but most of us barling guys believe it was mid to late 30’s”. Yes, both our humble investigations and eyewitness accounts of the time indicate that the history of the Portland Pipe Co was closely linked to Barling from the 1930s until the corporate era. For many years, Portland was located on Barling’s premises, although the production of Barling and Portland pipes was divided. It is also interesting that some originally Portland brands were adopted by Imperial Tobacco, the same famous Londoner, for example
Therefore, today we are very pleased to offer this visitor from the legendary past – an unsmoked Portland pipe with the box (marked with another model, it’s a frequent situation when a seller in a tobacco shop takes the first available box to pack the pipe), papers and pipe bag.
Pipe markings “PORTLAND \ MINIWEIGHT \ LONDON MADE”
Length 14.0 cm (5.51″)
Bowl Height 3.6 cm (1.42″)
Outside Diameter 2.7 cm (1.06″)
Chamber Diameter 1.6 cm (0.63″)
Chamber Depth 3.2 cm (1.26)
Weight 17 gr.
Briar, vulcanite stem, no filter.
We have thoroughly inspected the pipe and can confidently state that it is unsmoked. There is no odor emanating from the chamber, shank, or stem, no signs of tar, and the bottom of the mortise is completely clear and clean. Although the bowl surface has a few minor scratches and dings, we opted to preserve the pipe’s original finish. As such, we polished the pipe, removed some oxidation on the stem, and coated the bowl with carnauba wax gifted to us by an old and dear friend many years ago. The pipe comes with its original box (which displays significant signs of storage) and an original pipe bag (in fair condition).
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