Barling’s Make Family Era YOW Quaint EXEL Partially Rusticated Pot 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 late 19th century, however, the Barling family began to produce what the brand is today most famous for —expertly made briar pipes.

Originally referred to as the “Freak,” what later became commonly known as the “Quaint” was an unusual subset of Barling pipes during its celebrated family era (i.e., prior to 1962, including 2 years during which the Barling family made, but did not own, B. Barling and Sons pipes). In fact, the Freak and the Quaint are significant in Barling history for a number of reasons. For one, they are quite uncommon, even within the already uncommon and much sought-after category of family era Barlings. Quaints were also, as the name connotes, pipes of non-standard design, and were indeed each totally unique, rather than adhering wholly to a pre-figured design. This is because the Quaint was the result of a discovery, during manufacture, of small, natural imperfections in a stummel, leading to the offending briar being carved away and/or partially rusticated. The practice originated, per Barling historians, in the 1920s, which makes such pipes a curious precursor, especially as regards technique, to the English freehand pipes of companies like Charatan in the late 1950s and onward. On the other hand, it should be no surprise that Horry Jamieson, carver of GBD’s Unique freehands, is also purported to have been a carver of Barling Freaks/Quaints during his time there, along with a fellow named Bob Channan—again, per Barling historians. This one in particular is a lovely, faceted pot shape, with four narrow, vertical flutings of “chicken scratch” micro-rustication positioned symmetrically around the bowl. The briar, too, is beautiful, so it is little wonder that the Barling family wanted to make use this stummel, rather than cast it into the furnace. On a last note, it is also reported by Barling historians that these Quaints were priced at the same level as Barling’s exquisite Straight Grain grades, though it is also agreed that the labors that went into the former, along with the beauty of the result, made this otherwise unorthodox parity very much warranted. For a more detailed breakdown on the Barling Freak/Quaint pipes, I recommend having a read of the Pipedia Barling entry, specifically the subsection on Family Era Grades and Lines.

The condition is great. Some inner rim darkening but the pipe is remarkably preserved.

Details:

Length: 5.7″ / 144.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.85 / 21.59mm

Bowl Depth: 1.35″ / 34.29mm

Weight: 1.3oz / 38g