By Al Jones

This Peterson Shape 338 caught my eye because it was a Donegal Rocky and came with a silver band. Peterson introduced this line in 1945 with a rusticated finish and two-tone stain. The rustication style has evolved over the decades.

Mark Irwin had an entry on the Donegal Rocky line on his Peterson Pipe Notes blog. Curiously, the line was first introduced only with a fishtale stem and Sterling band. The line came with a P-lip starting in 1975.

148. The “Rocky” History of the Donegal Line

This is the first shape 338 to land on my work bench. It is described as a smaller, bent billiard in the tubular bowl shape house-pipe style.

Below is the pipe as it was received. It was in great shape and the reason this is titled “clean-up” versus restoration. The mildly oxidized stem and tarnished silver are the only real points of attention.

The silver stamping was curious and a bit of a mystery. The stamping includes the typical K&P stamp. There is no specific date hallmark, which is odd, nor the remains of one. What I originally thought was a worn date code appears to be the Hibernia symbol

Form member “PaulFG” added:

The shape of the square would put it 1968 and forward.

From 1891 through 1938 and 1969 to the present, Peterson’s silver-mounted pipes have carried three hallmarks: ‘Hibernia’ seated, arm on harp, for the country of manufacture; the ‘Harp Crowned’ (through 2002) or ‘.925’ (from 2003), designating sterling quality

so this would make it newer than 2003

The bowl was very clean, only requiring a light sand to remove the barely there cake. I used sea salt and alcohol to soak the bowl.

After the soak the shank was scrubbed with a bristle brush dipped in alcohol. The stem was mounted and I removed the light oxidation with 800, 1,500 and 2,000 grade sandpaper, working carefully around the “P” stem logo. The stem was buffed with White Diamond and Meguiars Plastic polish. The briar was hand polished with Halycon wax.

Below is the finished pipe.