GBD Pre-1980s Prehistoric Conquest 9645 Sandblasted Dublin w/ Perspex Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

Description

GBD was one of several prominent examples of a French pipe brand that, due to certain circumstances, became a maker most associated with classic ‘British’ pipes. Founded in 1850 by the French trio Ganneval, Bondier & Donninger, the brand was bought by English company Oppenheimer at the beginning of the 20th century, who opened factories in London and Paris to meet an increasing demand for the make’s high-quality and highly desirable pipes. Partly owing to the make’s inventive, yet traditional shapes, and partly due to the high standards of their production, GBD pipes are particularly coveted by collectors, as well as those who simply appreciate classic, well-made smoking instruments.

There are certain symbols that have come to be associated with certain pipe brands, like a white spot and Dunhill pipes. There are certain shapes that have similarly come to be associated with certain pipe brands, like Stanwell and the Peewit. And, in some rare cases, there are certain materials that have come to be associated with certain pipe brands. In the latter example, one of the most famous is, strangely enough, perspex, and the brand it is associated with is GBD. Perspex is essentially a plastic developed in the early 20th century, with a whole variety of different applications. In the pipe world, however, it was something popularized by GBD, coming to define the aesthetic of their mid-century output.

In the case of the sandblasted Prehistoric line and, more specifically, the Prehistoric Perspex. The Prehistoric was, originally, a dark, craggy relief finish, typically paired with a similarly dark black vulcanite mouthpiece. GBD’s marketing materials did a great job of highlighting the difference the Perspex variation made, noting that the latter’s “crystal clear mouthpiece creates an attractive contrast to the deep dark finish.” If anything, this undersells the effect of GBD’s signature material, as the addition of a Perspex stem juxtaposes a translucent, yet still quite bright, glassy-smooth element with the bowl’s craggy, near-black aesthetic. The bowl and the mouthpiece in this instance might as well be polar opposites, and perhaps that’s exactly why they work so well together.

As for the other aspects of the pipe seen here, it’s an example of one of GBD’s oversized lines, the Conquest, and takes the form of a cauldron-like, oval shank shape that skirts the line between a Dublin and a calabash. GBD during the midcentury was quite notable for such hybrid shapes, subverting the design conventions of Anglo-French pipe making without breaking from them entirely.

On a final note, the nomenclature and metal “GBD” rondelle inlaid in the pipe’s mouthpiece point to this pipe being a pre-1980s make, and thus a pre-Cadogan Investments merger make (during which GBD, along with a host of other classic Anglo-French makes, were consolidated under more or less one roof).

This pipe is completely unsmoked

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.95 / 24.13mm

Bowl Depth: 1.49″ / 37.84mm

Weight: 1.4oz / 40g