Gold Crown by GBD 9567 Sandblasted Pot Estate Briar Pipe, English Estates

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. Gold Crown was a GBD sub-brand.

Like their contemporaries at Sasieni, GBD had a plethora of sub-brands, with the result being that it is often difficult to estimate the provenance of many an English make. Thankfully, many GBD sub-brands (again, much like Sasieni) were stamped with the same shape codes as their GBD-brand counterparts. This one would be easy to recognize even if it didn’t have a shape code. After all, it is GBD’s highly distinctive, pot-poker-sitter hybrid, also known as the 9567. Based on the stamping, I would estimate that this is a pre-1980, pre-Cadogan merger piece.

The condition is fair. Finish fading, handling marks, and a small tooth mark on the stem.

 

Details:

Length: 6.2″ / 157.4mm

Bowl Width: 1.13 / 28.70mm

Bowl Depth: 1.34″ / 34.03mm

Weight: 2.0oz / 58g