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Where’s The Real Pipe Action? I Say It’s At The Auction Block!: Difference between revisions
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Where’s The Real Pipe Action? I Say It’s At The Auction Block! (view source)
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If you hunger to own just one pipe with documented provenance, this auction offered a carved pear wood pipe with certification of ownership: Ludwig I, King of Bavaria had handed this pipe down to his son, Ludwig II, the “Mad King” (1845–1886). The castle gardener received it as a gift, then emigrated to Chicago, and sold it for rent money; it was auctioned in Chicago in 1947, and eventually it ended up in this PB 84 auction; hand-written documentation inside the pipe bowl attests to these facts. | If you hunger to own just one pipe with documented provenance, this auction offered a carved pear wood pipe with certification of ownership: Ludwig I, King of Bavaria had handed this pipe down to his son, Ludwig II, the “Mad King” (1845–1886). The castle gardener received it as a gift, then emigrated to Chicago, and sold it for rent money; it was auctioned in Chicago in 1947, and eventually it ended up in this PB 84 auction; hand-written documentation inside the pipe bowl attests to these facts. | ||
In February 1989, Dr. Tony Hyman, also known as Mr. Cigar, offered “The World of Smoking and Tobacco,” consisting of two distinguished collections, Bud Markham’s and Les Barnett’s, and tobacco accessories from several unnamed others. The illustrated auction catalog contained many hundreds of tobacciana collectibles, from caddy labels and cigarette cards to books and magazines, and everything, literally everything, in between. The briar and assorted wood pipe lots 6400–6560 were a windfall of English (Barling, Comoy, Dunhill, GBD, Parker-Hardcastle and Saseini), American ( | In February 1989, Dr. Tony Hyman, also known as Mr. Cigar, offered “The World of Smoking and Tobacco,” consisting of two distinguished collections, Bud Markham’s and Les Barnett’s, and tobacco accessories from several unnamed others. The illustrated auction catalog contained many hundreds of tobacciana collectibles, from caddy labels and cigarette cards to books and magazines, and everything, literally everything, in between. The briar and assorted wood pipe lots 6400–6560 were a windfall of English (Barling, Comoy, Dunhill, GBD, Parker-Hardcastle and Saseini), American (C.P.F., KB&B, WDC, LHS, Dr. Grabow, Kaywoodie and Medico), Italian, Danish, folk art, novelty and the expected array of no-name pipes. The prices? In comparison with current-market prices for similar pipes offered at the 2008 [[Chicagoland International Pipe & Tobacciana Show]] (20 years later), the realized prices at this auction would produce crocodile-size tears from many of today’s briar pipe smokers and collectors who’d love to see a return to those 1989 price points. | ||
Ever seen a Tiffany-commissioned art nouveau, bejeweled meerschaum pipe, or a Tiffany-hallmarked solid silver and ivory pipe for sale at a pipe show or on eBay? I doubt it! The Lord Chief Justice of Great Britain had ordered the latter pipe for presentation to a certain Jacob Gordon. Both Tiffany pipes were part of the Martin Friedman pipe collection auctioned at Guernsey’s “A Gentleman’s Auction,” in New York on Jan. 18-20, 1991, along with 260 other lots of assorted pipes. Talk about second chances? That Garlow briar figural head of a gorilla at the PB 84 auction in April 1978 had sold for $450; it reappeared in this auction and was gaveled at $800! | Ever seen a Tiffany-commissioned art nouveau, bejeweled meerschaum pipe, or a Tiffany-hallmarked solid silver and ivory pipe for sale at a pipe show or on eBay? I doubt it! The Lord Chief Justice of Great Britain had ordered the latter pipe for presentation to a certain Jacob Gordon. Both Tiffany pipes were part of the Martin Friedman pipe collection auctioned at Guernsey’s “A Gentleman’s Auction,” in New York on Jan. 18-20, 1991, along with 260 other lots of assorted pipes. Talk about second chances? That Garlow briar figural head of a gorilla at the PB 84 auction in April 1978 had sold for $450; it reappeared in this auction and was gaveled at $800! | ||
Hesse Galleries, Otego, N.Y., is a known auction house. In fall 1994, Hesse advised me of a future, unreserved auction of a pipe collection belonging to Francis J. Smith of Lenni, Pa., who had begun his love for pipes in the 1930s. Some 600 “BRIERWOOD: MEERSCHAUM: KAOLIN: GLAZED PORCELAIN: FIGURALS: NOVELTIES: TOBACCO SAMPLES & RELATED ITEMS” (as printed in the auction catalog) went on the auction block on Oct. 8, 1994, at the Galleries. The auctioneer described this eclectic collection as consisting of “… large brierwood & meerschaum plus an interesting variety of other types including carburator style; air cooled; sparkless outdoor; double bowls; pistols; miniatures; swinging stems; and so on, from America, England, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Austria, Holland, Ireland, etc.” In breath and depth of 20th century materials and styles, Smith had it all. To every bidder the auction house handed out a reproduced typewritten catalog describing each of Smith’s accessions; according to his own words: “This index started about 1948 put in index form around 1950 finally typed in February 1954.” And Smith’s indexed catalog listed all the usual suspects: Baronite, | Hesse Galleries, Otego, N.Y., is a known auction house. In fall 1994, Hesse advised me of a future, unreserved auction of a pipe collection belonging to Francis J. Smith of Lenni, Pa., who had begun his love for pipes in the 1930s. Some 600 “BRIERWOOD: MEERSCHAUM: KAOLIN: GLAZED PORCELAIN: FIGURALS: NOVELTIES: TOBACCO SAMPLES & RELATED ITEMS” (as printed in the auction catalog) went on the auction block on Oct. 8, 1994, at the Galleries. The auctioneer described this eclectic collection as consisting of “… large brierwood & meerschaum plus an interesting variety of other types including carburator style; air cooled; sparkless outdoor; double bowls; pistols; miniatures; swinging stems; and so on, from America, England, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Austria, Holland, Ireland, etc.” In breath and depth of 20th century materials and styles, Smith had it all. To every bidder the auction house handed out a reproduced typewritten catalog describing each of Smith’s accessions; according to his own words: “This index started about 1948 put in index form around 1950 finally typed in February 1954.” And Smith’s indexed catalog listed all the usual suspects: Baronite, C.P.F., Danco, Dunhill, GBD, Kaywoodie, Kirsten, Longchamps, Marxman, Peterson, Ropp, WDC, Ben Wade, Weber and Yellow Bowl, plenty of good-to-better pipes that sold at less than market value to some very lucky bidders. | ||
The great comedian George Burns died at the age of 100 in March 1996. Although always seen with a cigar, on occasion, George smoked a pipe. Sotheby’s, Los Angeles, auctioned Burns’ estate on Oct. 10, 1996. One of George’s meerschaum pipes was part of Lot 214, “George Burns Personal Items.” Now that would be a celebrity pipe at any show! | The great comedian George Burns died at the age of 100 in March 1996. Although always seen with a cigar, on occasion, George smoked a pipe. Sotheby’s, Los Angeles, auctioned Burns’ estate on Oct. 10, 1996. One of George’s meerschaum pipes was part of Lot 214, “George Burns Personal Items.” Now that would be a celebrity pipe at any show! | ||