Peterson Sherlock Holmes Squire Block Meerschaum Estate Pipe, Irish Estates

Description

Peterson pipes generally need no introduction, but just in case you’re unfamiliar: in 1876, a Latvian named Charles Peterson immigrated to Ireland and was hired making pipes in a workshop owned by Frederick and George Kapp. After rising through the ranks to become head craftsman, Peterson bought into the Kapp’s business, which was renamed, Kapp & Peterson (K&P). During this time, Peterson himself applied for several patents for pipe designs, including the world-famous Peterson’s System. Since then, Peterson has become one of the most recognizable names in pipe smoking and continues to produce high quality pipes from their headquarters in Dublin.

While Peterson is a make primarily known for their briar pipes, there have, at times, also been Peterson meerschaum pipes. These pipes are prized by collectors, in part because they unite popular Peterson shapes and design elements (such as the P-lip) with the medium of meerschaum, and in part because they’re very rare. Most Peterson meerschaum pipes were made around the 1970s, as a result of a collaboration with a British company called Laxey (who also made Barling and Nording meers), and those pipes were made from African meerschaum, which was Laxey’s specialty. After African meerschaum stopped being mined, Laxey closed and no more Peterson meerschaums were produced—with one or two small exceptions. The most recent Peterson meerschaum pipes were part of a very limited run during the mid-2000s, but these pipes were not made from African meerschaum. Instead, they were made from high-grade Turkish block meerschaum. Some of these pipes were rendered in Peterson’s Deluxe Classic shapes, whereas others were made in shapes from the make’s famous Sherlock Holmes series. This one is an example of the latter, being the stout bulldog “Squire” model, originally released (in its briar form) during the first expansion the Sherlock Holmes series around 1990. Like its briar counterpart, it’s furnished with a sterling silver collar and a vulcanite P-Lip stem, but with the added bonus of smoking extra cool and extra dry, as meerschaum is wont to do. It’ll also develop a warm, golden patina over time, which this one has already begun to show.

The condition is good. Minor rim darkening and a couple of slight scratches on the bowl.

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.82 / 20.82mm

Bowl Depth: 1.55″ / 39.37mm

Weight: 1.9oz / 54g