Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table was purchased on 04/11/2023 our contact in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Peterson’s [over] Sterling Filter. On the right side it is stamped Made in the Republic of Ireland (three lines) followed by the shape number 999. It had a Sterling Silver band on the shank that was stamped K&P in shield shaped cartouches. Underneath it was stamped Sterling [over] Silver. Next that there are three silver hallmarks. The first was Hibernia seated, arm on a harp for the country of manufacture. The second was a Crowned Harp designating sterling quality. The third mark was a date stamp and, in this case, a lower-case cursive “p” which dated the pipe as a 1981. Next to that it is engraved Zell am Lee in script followed by the date 1982. It was another pipe that was someone’s favourite. The bowl had a thick cake and lava build up on the rim top. The finish looked good underneath all of the grime and oils that were ground into the bowl sides and heel. The stem was made for a 9mm filter. It had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the P-lip and on the underside edge of the button. The “P” stamp on the left side of the stem was clear and just needed to be touched up otherwise it looked good. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work on it. It is another pretty pipe! The next photos show the bowl and rim top as well as the stem condition. The bowl had a thick cake that is very visible. The rim top and edges have a heavy coat of tar. It is hard to know what the rim edge looked like underneath the lava. The rim top also had some darkening. The stem looked good with some tooth chatter and marks on both sides and the button. Jeff took photos of the sides and the heel of the bowl and shank to show birdseye and cross grain around the briar. It is unique and quite beautiful. I can’t wait to see it once it is cleaned and polished. The stamping on the shank sides and the Sterling Silver band was clear and very readable. It read as noted above. The band also has and engraved name and date on the centre of the band around the shank. It is readable and clear. It is a unique name that I am unfamiliar with. The “P” stamp on the left side of the taper stem is readable. I checked on Pipephil’s website to see what I could learn about the stamping on the pipe. I scrolled down the page (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-peterson-rep.html). There was a Peterson’s Sterling on the page and it had similar stamping on the shank though lacking the Filter stamp. I found the following photo of the band that was stamped similar to the one I am working on. The silver bears the K & P stamping like the one I have. Below that it reads Sterling Silver. The hallmarks on this one Are similar to mine other than the date stamp with the one on mine is a lower case “p”.I turned to Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes to see what I could garner from that information. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson#1950_-_1989_The_Republic_Era). It is well worth the read.

I then turned to the book I should have consulted first, The Peterson Pipe, by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg. On page 155 I found some information on the line.

Peterson’s US distributor during the early Republic era was Rogers Imports, Inc., a New York firm whose catalogs offered all varieties of smoker’s products. Rogers was the exclusive wholesale dealer for several prominent European pipe manufacturers, they also marketed accessories under their own name. On behalf of Kapp & Peterson they registered the Killarney, Shamrock and Sterling trademarks with the US Patent Office in the 1950s, and their catalogs also featured the System, Premier Selection and Supreme.

On page 156-157 in the same book there is a catalogue page with the Sterling shown on it. It sold for $7.50 in 1953. It read:

As the name implies the Sterling quality of this fine pipe is distinguished in a careful selection of its fine Mediterranean Bruyere, its careful workmanship and sparkling finish. Banded with a Sterling Silver band – a Hallmark of quality – the pipe is available in a handsome natural or dark rich walnut finish. Patent P-lip stem. Individually boxed.

With that information in hand I knew what I was dealing with in terms of the stamping on the pipe. It is a Republic era pipe. The three line Made in the Republic of Ireland stamp on the right side of the shank along with the K&P stamp with hallmarks tell me it was made in 1981 and the previous pipe man engraver it 1982. It is a beautiful pipe in a popular shape – 999.

Now, on to the restoration of this beautifully grained Peterson’s Sterling Filter 999 Rhodesian. With that information at hand I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had thoroughly cleaned up the pipe. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife.  He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub to remove as much of the oxidation and calcification as possible. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. I took photos of the pipe once I started to work on it. I took close up photos of the bowl and the stem. You can see the reamed bowl and the darkening and damage on inner edge of the bowl. The stem surface was clean but there is light tooth marks and chatter on both sides on and ahead of the button.I took a photo of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. There is also a “P” stamp on the right side of the stem. I took photos of the stamping around the sterling silver band on the shank. They are clear and read as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo to give a sense of the proportions of the pipe. It is really quite nice looking. I took a photo of the shank end of the stem to show the 9mm filter tenon.I decided to start my work on this one by reworking the inner edge of the rim with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper giving it a light bevel. I sanded the darkening on the rim top at the same time. It looked much better.I polished the briar and the rim top with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. You can see the grain around the bowl and shank in the photos below. The bowl looks great and took on a shine as I finished the polishing. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 10 minutes, then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. I polished the Sterling Silver band with a jewellers polishing cloth to remove the tarnish and protect it from further tarnishing. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. Before I started working on it I fit a new 9mm Dr. Perl Junior in the tenon of the stem. It fits well and looks good. I touched up the stamped P on the left side of the tapered stem with white acrylic fingernail polish. I applied it to the stem with the applicator and scraped off the excess material with a 1500 grit micromesh sanding pad. It came out looking very good.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a cloth containing some Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing the stem with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and buffed it off with a cotton cloth. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Oil to preserve and protect the stem.I don’t know how many times I have said this but I love it when I come to the end of a restoration and all of the parts come together and the pipe looks better than when we started the cleanup process. I put the stem back on the Peterson’s Sterling Filter 999 Rhodesian and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I carefully avoided the stamping on the shank sides during the process. I gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad on the buffer. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is a real stunning example of a Republic Era Peterson’s Sterling Filter 999 Rhodesian. Once again, the grain and the way the shape follows the grain is amazing. Give the finish pipe a look in the photos below. I can only tell you that it is much prettier in person than the photos capture. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.55 ounces/44 grams. This Peterson’s Deluxe 4S is a great piece of pipe history that is in exceptional condition. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. I will be putting this one on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipemakers Section. Let me know if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for your time.

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.