Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is a lovely Peterson’s style briar pipe. We purchased it from a seller in Spring Branch, Texas, USA on 02/29/2024. It is a classic Peterson’s De Luxe style Bent Billiard. It has a smooth, rich brown stained bowl that really highlights the stunning grain in the briar. The bowl is dirty with grime in the finish. There is a moderate cake in the bowl and a heavy lava overflow on the rim top and edges. The stamping on the pipe is clear and readable and on the left side it reads Peterson’s [over] Mark Twain. On the right side it reads Made in the Republic of Ireland (three lines). The Sterling Silver Ferrule is stamped Peterson’s [over] Dublin followed by Sterling [over] Silver and three hallmarks. The stem had a P logo stamped on the topside of the taper. It is oxidized, calcified and has light tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of the P-lip button. Mark Twain has always been one of my favourite authors. I love his wit and style of humour. The fact that this is a classic Mark Twain pipe is part of the fascination of working on pipes for me. I have seen only a few of these from the line so this is going to be a pleasure to work on. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl is moderately caked and the rim top and edges have a heavy coat of lava overflowing on to them. The stem is oxidized, calcified and has light tooth chatter and tooth marks on the top and underside near the button. The “P” logo stamp on the top of the stem is faded and dirty. Jeff took photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the condition of the finish around this bowl. It has some great straight grain on the sides and birdseye on the top and heel. The silver ferrule is oxidized and dirty. He took photos of the stamping on the shank sides. You can see that it is clear and reads as noted above. He also captured the stamping on the sterling silver ferrule on the shank end. It is also very clear and reads as noted. The P logo is faded but readable on the topside of the stem. As is my habit before I start working on a particular pipe I want to know more about the pipe and the line. I turned to Pipephil (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-peterson-ser.html) to get a quick overview of the Mark Twain pipe. I have included a screen capture of the pertinent section below. When I clicked on the photo of the second pipe above it took me to a photo of the hallmarks that looked identical to the ones on the pipe I am working on. It made me question the date mark and dig further. The note below the photo said, “Peterson Mark Twain (not from the two numbered editions). That photo has a red arrow pointing to the P date stamp. Now to dig a little deeper.The band on the pipe I am working on has the three hallmarks noted in the photo above. They are as follows. The first is Hibernia seated, arm on a harp (for the country of manufacture – Ireland). Next to that is a Crowned Harp designating the sterling quality. Finally, it is followed by the date stamp which in this case is Celtic style capital T. I have included information on the hallmarks below:Date letters of Assay Office Dublin
Twenty letters of the alphabet of different fonts together with the shape of the escutcheon identify the year in which the piece was verified by the assay office. I have circled the matching letter T in the chart below which dates the pipe as a 1984.I turned to Pipedia and there was nothing specific about that stamping. I am including the link to the Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson).

I turned then to the definitive pipe book, The Peterson Pipe by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg to find more information on the pipe and the stamping on it. I turned first to the short entries and on page 308 found the following information.

Mark Twain (1981-) System pipe design copied from a photograph of Samuel L. Clemens’s pipe held at the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum in Hannibal, Missouri. Arguably Peterson’s most famous and widely known commemorative, it was first introduced as a limited edition 400 numbered pipes in 1981 and offered in smooth and rusticated finishes to this day. Based on shape 14 from 1906 catalog…

There was also a note to turn to another chapter for further information. There is a section in the book on page 174-176 on the Mark Twain variations. There on page 176 in a paragraph entitled, “The Mark Twain System” I found some helpful information which I quote below.

The Mark Twain System. Usually known as the De Luxe, 2400 unnumbered pipes were originally released in 1981 with the hallmark P, and available in smooth as well as rusticated finishes. It is stamped PETERSON’S in script over Mark Twain on the obverse of the shank. The front side of the mouthpiece is stamped with a white P. The pipe retailed for $75 in a red oversized gift box and sometimes included a reproduction of the John Adams etching. De Luxe Quality models were released several times over the years, with later documented examples bearing hallmarks from 1982, 1984-1987, 1990-1991, 1994 and 1997.

This section was extremely helpful in that it described the pipe I was working on to a T. So, I knew that the pipe was a Mark Twain System known as the De Luxe. It was one of 2400 pipes that were released in 1981 with the hallmark on the silver ferrule – exactly like the one I was working on. Since my pipe was dated to 1984 I knew it was part of the original run of pipes as noted in the last paragraph above.

Lastly, I remembered that the late Jim Lilley had written a very interesting piece on Mark Twain pipes on Pipedia. I quickly turned to that article to read through it again. I highly recommend that you take time to read it as it is full of great information and is a fascinating read  (https://pipedia.org/wiki/A_Closer_Look_at_the_Mark_Twain_Original_and_New_Pipes). I have included a pertinent portion of the article and a portrait of Mark Twain and his pipe below.

Peterson started production of the Mark Twain Series in 1980 with a numbered production run from 1 – 400. Then again in 1981 with a numbered production run from 1 – 1000. In 1983, Peterson started producing Mark Twains without numbers, (except the 1985 limited Gold issue), until about 1989. However, they must have had another production run later as there is evidence of Mark Twains with 1998 silver marked bands.

The pipes are typically large, full bents, with P-lip tapered stems, and a hallmarked silver collar. They are akin in quality to Deluxe System pipes, and as such, are also available in the smooth, sandblast, and rustic finishes. The Mark Twains have legendary high-quality smoking, with good draw and excellent with Virginia and flake blends.
Cost/Value: $250 – $1000 plus, depending on which series and precious metal finish. The originals are regularly available on eBay and with offerings hotly contested at auction.

Now it was time to work on the pipe. Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. He cleaned up the walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs, shank brushes and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and darkening with the soap and tooth brush. It looked much better. The silver ferrule looked better and the tarnish was reduced. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. When the pipe arrived here this week I took photos of it so you can see what I see. It is a beautiful pipe. I took some close up photos of the rim top and also of the stem surface. I wanted to show how well it had cleaned up. The rim top and edges looked very good. It should polish up really well. I also took photos of the stem to show the condition. The tooth marks and chatter are present but hard to see in the photos which is good. It means that none of them are too deep. The stem was clear of oxidation.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. You can see that it is stamped as noted above. It is clear and readable. I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to have a look at the parts and overall look. The new stem looked really good with the bowl. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiping the bowl down after each sanding pad. The grain really began to shine through. It is a beautiful pipe. The polishing of the rim top and inner edge brought the rim top colour to match the rest of the bowl. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I polished the silver ferrule with a jeweller’s cloth to remove the tarnish and further protect the silver from the intrusion of more tarnish. I set the bowl aside and worked on the stem. I touched up the white P stamp on the topside of the stem with some White Acrylic Nail Polish. I pressed it into the stamp with a tooth pick and polished it off once dry with a worn 1500 grit micromesh sanding pad.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 Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I am excited to put the final touches on this 1984 Made in the Republic of Ireland Peterson’s Mark Twain System Pipe. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with beautiful straight and birdseye grain on the bowl sides, top and bottom. Added to that the polished black vulcanite stem combined with the bowl and the Sterling Silver ferrule made a stunning pipe. This smooth Classic Peterson’s Mark Twain System is great looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 70 grams/2.47ounces. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipe Makers Section shortly. Let me know if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.