Barling’s Make Pre-Transition YOW 324 EXEL Smooth Pot Estate Briar Pipe, English Estates

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 “224,” 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.

As for when this pipe was made within that pre-1960 period, it is difficult to say. One thing I do note is that the bird’s-eye grain on it is extraordinary, even by Barling’s standards. Per Gage, following the end of the Second World War, the Barling family used the “Special” designation for pipes of such exemplary graining, whereas in prior decades this had been specified using the “Ye Olde Wood” designation (the latter becoming more of an informal trademark for post-war Barling pipes). I am led to wonder whether this “Ye Olde Wood” pot rendition might therefore be pre-1945, at the least.

The condition is good. Some inner rim charring and some handling marks.

Details: 

Length: 6.1″ / 154.9mm

Bowl Width: 0.88 / 22.35mm

Bowl Depth: 1.34″ / 34.03mm

Weight: 1.0oz / 30g