By Al Jones

This blog entry is not so much of a restoration but rather a focus on a unusual Comoy’s shape. I restored several Comoy’s Prince shapes, but this is the first shape 339 that I’ve encountered. We typically see the 337C Comoy’s Prince. A web search turned up a past sale of the shape on the Smoking Pipes shape and a very rare Specimen Straight Grain. This one is in the Sandblast finish and from the shape is shown as a Pear bowl on the Comoy’s shape chart.

The pipe was in such excellent condition, that I didn’t take my own typical “before” pictures. These below are from the eBay ad. Also included is the Specimen Straight Grain. The drilled C stem logo was perfect. A unique aspect of this pipe is the weight – a scant 21 grams and it is easily the lightest Comoy’s that I’ve owned.

I found the shape in a 1956 catalog, as well as a 339P which seems to have a faceted bowl.

The bowl had the cake removed and it was very clean. There was some build-up on the bowl top. The stem was excellent as well, with only some mild oxidation. The country of manufacture stamping indicates that the pipe was made between 1948 and the 1981 merger.

I soaked the bowl with alcohol and sea salt, followed by a shank scrub with a bristle brush dipped in alcohol. The stem was mounted and oxidation removed with 600, 800, 1,500 and 2,000 grade sandpaper. The stem was then buffed with White Diamond and Meguiars Plastic polish. I used some worn Scotch-Brite to remove the bowl top build-up. The bowl was hand polished with Halycon wax.

Below is the finished pipe, now en-route to a PipesMagazine forum member.