England
Another one old good pipe from the 1950s. Some sources say that “Straight grain” was a kind of Comoy’s second (like other makers marked their pipes “Reject”) but we didn’t find a confirmation.
The pipe is 15.0 cm long, 5.0 cm tall and weights 27 gr. The bowl’s external diameter is 3.2 cm, inner – 2.0 cm, inner depth – 4.0 cm. Vulcanite stem, no filter.
England, 1960-70s A very high grade GBD pipe marked both “Prodigy” and “Straight grain” made approximately between the late 1960s and late 1970s most probably by Horry Jamieson (ex Barling carver), who was experienced in freehand design and created many amazing “Collector” and “Unique” pipes for GBD. A decent response to Danish artisans!
Italia The Molina name is relatively new in the pipe-smoking community; the brand has been around since 2004. However, as we can see from the shape, the materials, and the skilful adaptation of the straight grain, today’s pipe is not the work of a novice nor a cheap basket pipe, but a thoroughly respectable creation…
Unknown The pipe is really made of a fine briar, the grain is fantastic, almost 360 straight grain. The full bent shape is amazing, highly respected and collectable. Unfortunately its owner was not always careful with the pipe, we had to fix a few scratches on the bowl.
England This unsmoked pipe became a subject of a special investigation. Many more and less known manufacturers applied the “Oxford” stamping on their pipes: Wilczak & Colwell mention S. MC Lardy, Sasieni, J. Redman, Hall & Fitzgerald, Carrington, Orlik and even GBD! Pipephil (the greatest and highly respected pipe expert) places Oxford on the Hardcastle’s…
England In fact, a lovat shape pipe is creation of the British militarism. The shape was initiated in early XX century and they say Colonel Henry Fraser, Lord Lovat smoked such pipes and the name was adopted in his honour. Several trustworthy sources of information state that Gerald Grundging & Company stamped the name of Lord Lovat…
England, 1950-70s The highest grade GBD pipe made in 1970s the latest, before the acquisition of the company by Cadogan. Amazing straight plus birdeyes grain, elegant aristocratic shape, great lightweight briar make the pipe an incomparable addition to any collection.
Hi,
I have a smooth, plum- stained pipe stamped just like the one above, and have been scratching my head over it. The only stamping I can find is “STRAIGHT GRAIN” over “LONDON MADE” on the left side, and the number “20” has been stamped on the right side. It is a small pot in shape. The script looks exactly like that used in the stamping of my Blue Riband and London Pride, but I see no trace of “Comoy’s” on the pipe. I can see no fills, and the grain is vertically straight and very tight. I see no maker identification on the stem, which may be a replacement, but is very well made and fits perfectly. Any idea who may have made it? I have had no luck in trying to trace the shape number.
Thanks,
Jeff Stierman
Hi Jeff,
The reasons why a particular pipe wasn’t stamped with its manufacturer name may be vary and at times not clear for us in the 2021. Such pipes are not always “seconds”, some of them could be made tobacco shops, some others were not finished due to closing / moving of production facilities.
“Straight grain” is not a registered brand name, therefore any maker could stamp this name on pipes. However you right, Comoy’s stamping is quite unique and I would say preliminary your pipe is one of Comoy’s too. But the small pot with the shape number 20 is not in Comoy’s shape charts (of course if it wasn’t made at the commission of another company).
I would recommend also to ask the question at the pipesmagazine.com forum, maybe someone of experts can identify your pipe or recall who was producing such the shape Nr. 20.
The very best regards, stay safe!