Barling’s Make Pre-Transition YOW Special 273 EXEXEL Smooth 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 early 20th century, however, the Barling family began to produce what the brand is today most famous for – expertly made briar pipes.

So-called Family Era Barlings are among the most sought after pipes in the world. These are pipes made between the end of the 19th century and 1962, when the pipes of B. Barling and Sons were made by the Barling family—hence “Barling’s Make.” So-called Pre-Transition Barlings are even more coveted, having been made before 1960, the year when B. Barling and Sons was purchased from the Barling family (who were kept on by the new owners for two more years, before being dismissed). There are many articles written by prominent pipe historians, such as Jonathan Guss, Jesse Silver, and Tad Gage, which meticulously document the changing of hands of the Barling brand over the course of the 20th century, and MBSD Pipes has a three-step guide based on these materials for easily dating a Barling pipe to the main eras of manufacture. Based on the nomenclature and three-digit shape code, this is most certainly a Family Era, Pre-Transition Barling, but it might be said that it is even more special than that. That is because it is a “Special” grade pipe. As Tad Gage has pointed out, the famous “Ye Olde Wood” (as also seen stamped on this pipe) designation was originally used by the Barling family for certain higher grade pipes. As Gage also documents, after the Second World War, “Ye Olde Wood” became more of an informal trademark instead, with grades such as the Special taking its place. As mentioning in a previous listing, and in contrast to Barling’s Straight Grain grades, the Special appears to have been used for pipes with extraordinary bird’s-eye patterns. That theory certainly holds for this Barling, an Extra, Extra, Extra Large (by midcentury standards) sized pot.

The condition is good. Some inner rim charring and finish fading.

Details:

Length: 5.6″ / 142.2mm

Bowl Width: 0.81 / 20.57mm

Bowl Depth: 1.35″ / 34.29mm

Weight: 1.5oz / 44g