Barling’s Make Family Era YOW 243 EXEL Smooth Billiard Estate Briar Pipe, English Estates

Description

Barling and Sons was originally founded in 1812 by Benjamin Barling and began as a family business making silver-adorned meerschaum pipes. In the early 20th century, however, the Barling family began to produce what the brand is today most famous for – expertly made briar pipes.

If one was to list the most esteemed and prized British pipe brands ever produced, it’s pretty certain that Barling would be in the top five. More specifically, it would be the “pre-transition,” or “family era,” Barling pipes that held this stature. This were pipes made by the Barling family during their ownership and management of the B. Barling and Sons company, prior to its change in ownership (the “transition era,” and eventual change in management and production the “post-transition era”). For detailed information on how to identify such pipes, the Pipedia article on the topic has excellent, collaborative resources by prominent Barling historians, and MBSD Pipes has its own three-step summary that can be found on our main hub, which I will link down below.
This particular Barling is a beautiful, stout billiard, with bird’s-eye fluttering across its flanks and tiger-stripe cross-grain woven across the front and rear of the bowl. As for size, it’s an example of an “Extra Extra Large” piece, though this is in respect to the size conventions of the time. In respect to today’s tastes, I’d consider it just about “goldilocks” in stature.

The condition is great. Some slight inner rim charring and a little finish fading, but overall remarkably well preserved.

https://www.mbsdpipes.com/dating-barling-pipes-a-three-step-guide/

 

Details:

Length: 5.7″ / 144.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.80 / 20.32mm

Bowl Depth: 1.49″ / 37.84mm

Weight: 1.6oz / 46g