By Al Jones

This unusual GBD second line caught my attention on Ebay for several reasons. The tapered stem Rhodesian shape is one of my favorites and the shape number, 9241, is one digit off from the famous GBD 9242 shape. The pipe was stamped Beau Nash and it also has a NASH stamp on the stem. I’ve restored a lot of GBD’s but never encountered this second line or the 9241 shape number.

I assumed this was a pipe GBD made for a tobacco shop pipe. While there are numerous “Beau Nash” retail shops in the UK, I found no record of a Beau Nash or a Nash tobacco shop. Beau Nash was born Richard Nash, a 17th century bon-vivant and general scoundrel of sorts. I found this Johnny Player “Dandies” collectible card on Ebay that neatly summarizes his history. He sound like a fun guy to hang around but died broke due to gambling debts and lived with a prostitute of sorts.

The pipe looked to be in decent shape from the Ebay ad, but on arrival, showed it would need a considerable amount of work. The stem was only slightly oxidized with no significant teeth marks. The button however, was so closed with debris/build-up that at first thought it appeared to be a twin-bore stem (and I’m not a fan). The briar had plenty of dings, a slightly out of round bowl and worst of all, a lot of road rash on the heel. I had not encountered a stem with some many bruises!

The bowl had very little cake, so it was reamed slightly and I used some 320 paper to smooth out the bottom of the bowl. The road rash was challenging. I tried steaming the dents and even used some Tripoli (I rarely use this rouge). I decided to lightly sand the exterior with 600 and 800 grade wet paper. That removed most of the offending rash. The existing stain was blotchy, so I restained it with a heavily diluted solution of Fieblings Medium Brown stain. The briar was soaked with sea salt and alcohol and the shank was thoroughly scrubbed with a bristle brush dipped in alcohol. The bowl was then buffed with White Diamond and several coats of Carnuba wax.

For the stem, I used a slot funneling tool to work out the gunk in the button. The stem was plugged with build-up. I used a bristle cleaner dipped in alcohol and then toothpaste to clean the draft hole. Mounted, the stem was polished with 600, 800, 1,500 and 2,000 grades of wet sandpaper. It was then buffed with White Diamond and Meguiars Plastic polish.

Below is the finished pipe and a comparison to it’s cousin, the 9242 shape. The 9242 is slightly larger in all dimensions, weighing 53 grams versus 44 for the 9241. This will make an interesting addition to my GBD Rhodesian collection.

Update – Sept 2023

After smoking the pipe for a few weeks, I was not pleased about how the bowl top looked. Putting it back in my cabinet with other GBD Rhodesians, I realized it was missing the beveled bowl top like my 9438’s and 9242’s featured. The bowl top was in such bad shape as received, I’m not certain if it had a beveled top or rounded. I used a piece of 220 paper over a round ball end screwdriver to bevel the top. It looked better already. I used again, the Fieblings Medium Brown stain, heavily diluted to match the bowl. I did heat the bowl with a heat gun prior to the stain. I think it looks much better with the beveled top and it was worth the extra effort.