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, 1960s An amazing example of the Lane era Charatan’s very high grade pipes art. That’s not yet an incredibly huge creature specific for the Charatan’s late 1960s, but the pipe has at the same time almost no conservative family era traits, thus we would date this fine piece of art by the middle of…
Denmark Rare and quite unusual pipe made by Karl Erik Otthendahl (better known as Karl Erik). It’s paradoxical shape, 360 straight grain and bird eyes on the pipe’s bottom make the pipe a really unique acquisition for any collection. The pipe comes approximately from 1970th and was very carefully smoked.
England There’s probably no other local so much appreciated and collected trade mark on the other side of Sea than Doctor Grabow. In despite of democratic price and positioning as a mass market product many American pipe smoker like their Grabows, smoke with please and even take pictures with the favorite pipe somewhere between American…
France All available sources unambiguously classify the pipe as a Chacom product. The series is very probably named after Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard (c. 1476 – 30 April 1524), “a French knight at the transition between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, generally known as the Chevalier de Bayard. Throughout the centuries since his…
England, 1950s A witness of the highest glory of British pipe making! Duncan briars was founded in 1899 and became world famous not only for stable high quality and innovations (such as the dental stems), but also due to close connections with other brands and companies. George Walker from Duncan founded Northern briars, Peter Wilson…
Denmark Dating of pipes (except Dunhill) is both entertaining, puzzling and inexact process. Therefore we may thank to gentlemen from Stanwell who simplified the dating problem having made a range of collectable pipes on its 40-year anniversary in 1982 and invited the best masters for their design such as Tom Eltang, Jess Chonowitsch, Anne Julie,…
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!