Fribourg & Treyer Shipmate Wind Cap Bent Billiard Estate Briar Pipe, English Estates

While there are many historic tobacconists, few can claim to be quite as historic as Fribourg & Treyer. Situated in London’s Westminster borough, Fribourg & Treyer was founded in 1720, and continued its operations until its closure in 1980. As with many major tobacconists, Fribourg & Treyer had house-make briar pipes created for their shops by the great English factories of the 20th century.

I don’t know why, but Fribourg & Treyer pipes are far less common than might be imagined. This is especially true if we discount the many F&T seconds on the market, and even more so if we limit our search to F&T pipes in a reasonable condition. I was very pleased, then, to have this one land on my desk. It is a beautiful, straight grain bent billiard in a light, natural stain, with the added bonus that this F&T has an integrated wind cap, much like the Hurricane pipes made by Orlik and others. I’m afraid I can’t say who made this one, but it is a genuine find. I did wonder whether I should keep it for myself, actually.

The condition is great. There’s some minor rim darkening and the top of the chamber is a little out of round, possibly from overzealous reaming (though the chamber is sound and the result has been superficial).

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.81 / 20.57mm

Bowl Depth: 1.64″ / 41.65mm

Weight: 2.2oz / 64g