Barling’s Make Family Era 1127 Smooth Billiard Estate Briar Pipe, English Estates

Description

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 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 “family era” Barling pipes that held this stature, i.e., pipes made by the Barling family during their ownership and management of the B. Barling and Sons company. Thanks to Barling historians such as Jonathan Guss, Tad Gage, and Jesse Silver, collectors have a relatively simple time of separating these pipes from the ones that came later (see our guide on the MBSD Pipes main hub for a quick and easy rundown of these findings, with pipes such as this one being readily identifiable as a “family era” Barling. The arched “Barling’s” over “Make” nomenclature is one clue, as is the shape code (also known as a Nichols number). In the case of the latter, family era Barling pipes featured either three- or two-digit shape codes (or no shape code), with the lone exception being four-digit shape codes that began with a “1,” as this one’s does. Based on the “Preedy” stamping on the opposite side of the shank to the Barling nomenclature, this pipe will have been made for A. Preedy & Sons, also known as Preedy’s. Preedy’s was a very successful chain of tobacconists shops across the West Midlands country in England, between the mid-19th and mid-20th centuries (in fact, there was once a museum exhibition dedicated to Preedy’s near Birmingham in the 2000s, which our Product Manager remembers passing by a few times in his slightly younger days).

The condition is very good. Chamber slightly over-reamed at the lip and a few handling marks. Very well preserved.

Details:

Length: 5.8″ / 147.3mm

Bowl Width: 0.78 / 19.81mm

Bowl Depth: 1.48″ / 37.59mm

Weight: 1.1oz / 32g