Barling’s Make (Pre-Transition) 1589 Smooth Oval Shank 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.

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 “pre-transition,” “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). For example, as this one is stamped “BARLING’S” in an arch over “MAKE,” and as it is specified as a shape 1589, it falls well within the “family era” having been manufactured prior to the transition in ownership in 1960 and the transition in management in 1962, after which the Barling family were dismissed from the company entirely.

Here we see an example of a common motif among pre-transition Barling pipes, that of the long, oval shanked billiard. It’s an elegant design, though one not used so much these days outside of more established long shank shapes (i.e., the Canadian and the lumberman), making this bird’s-eye-decked specimen all the more enjoyable to behold.

The condition is fair. Some inner rim darkening, a couple of slight scratches on the bowl, and stem slightly over-buffed at its base.

Details:

Length: 6.2″ / 157.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.80 / 20.32mm

Bowl Depth: 1.69″ / 42.92mm

Weight: 1.1oz / 34g