Marshall Field & Co (Comoys) Author Restoration

By Al Jones

One of my favorite British shapes is the 256 Author made by Comoy’s. I’ve owned several of this shape, including some seconds lines. This Marshall Field & Co made pipe caught my eye on eBay. We have seen another Marshall Field & Co. pipe on these pages in the past. This one is the Field DeLuxe grade. It has a Marshall Field logo on the stem and a signature on the shank.

Marshall Field & Company was a large retail department store that originated in Chicago. They were owned by for a short time in the 1980’s by British-American Tobacco group but later sold to Target and eventually Macy’s in 2005. They had catalogs like Sears, but I was unable to find one showing their pipes.

This example is definitely made by Comoy’s, from the distinctive 256 shape and stamp and the Comoy’s country-of-manufacture stamp (COM) . The pipe as delivered was in very good condition and appeared to have been lightly smoked. There were some teeth pricks on the stem, a very light cake in the bowl and a heavily oxidized stem. The Made In London, England COM was used from the 1950’s to the merger point in 1981.

I removed the oxidation from the stem with 600, 800, 1,500 and 2,000 grade wet sandpaper. I used a Magic Eraser pad around the shield stem logo. The stem was then buffed with White Diamond rouge and Meguiars Plastic Polish.

I buffed the briar lightly with White Diamond, then several coats of Carnuba wax. The bowl was soaked with alcohol and sea salt.

Here are the other Comoys 256 shapes that I have owned.

The Guildhall