Barling (Post-Transition) Guinea Grain Smooth Bent Billiard (Estate)

B. Barling and Sons was originally founded in 1812 by Benjamin Barling and began as a family business making silver-adorned meerschaum pipes. In the late 19th century, however, the Barling family began to produce what the brand is today most famous for—expertly made briar pipes.

The Guinea Grain was first introduced in 1953, around 7 years before the Barling family sold their company to British tobacconist Finlay’s. These pipes were, per gage, “something between a flame grain and a straight grain,” with a special finish that highlighted this superior graining. Production of the Guinea Grain continued for some time after the Barlings exited the family make, and would ultimately come to be reintroduced after Germany’s Kopp company acquired the rights to Barling in 2020. This particular example will have been made in the “post-transition” decades of the 20th century, though still retains the warm, light brown finishing of the original Guinea Grain, and indeed still uses it to show off a good dose of flame grain around its bowl.

The condition is good. Some inner rim charring, finish fading, and a couple of slight scratches on the bowl.

Details:

Length: 5.91″ / 150.1mm

Chamber Width: 0.80″ / 20.32mm

Chamber Depth: 1.75″ / 44.45mm

Bowl Height: 2.03″ / 51.56mm

Weight: 2.2oz / 62g