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All for One and One for All – Giving New Life to a d’Artagnan Meerschaum Figural

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table came to us from a fellow in Columbus, Michigan, USA. The pipe is an interesting carved figural meerschaum with a dashing figure that reminds me of one of the Three Musketeers. The pipe is well shaped and has a great figural head carved in the bowl. The pipe does not have any stamping or identification on the shank or shank end. It is a bit of a Turkish mystery pipe. There was a grime and dust in the feather, the hair and the features of the figure. The bowl and the rim top and edges we virtually unused and looked very good. There is some nice patina developing around the bowl and shank. There is a crack on the left side of the shank and it shows up on the shank end. The taper yellow acrylic stem was dirty and had scratches on the top and underside from the shank to the button. The pipe showed a lot of promise but it was very dirty. Jeff took some photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. Jeff took some closer photos of the features of the carving around the bowl face and sides. It is dirty and worn looking but the features are very well done. The carving of the facial expression and the hairs of the beard, mustache, eye brows and hair around the face is well done. He took a photo of the underside of the bowl and shank is smooth. There are a few nicks and scratches around the edges of the bottom but it still looks very good.He took some photos of the stem to show the overall condition. It was very clean and the light scratches would easily polish out when I worked on it.Jeff took the stem off the shank and it appears to be a threaded tenon. I have seen this before and I am pretty certain that it is a push tenon that has come out of the stem. I would know more once I saw it in person. My guess is that the other side of the tenon sticking out of the shank is threaded. It is a threaded fitment that is threaded and screwed into the shank. The part that is showing is threaded as well and screws into the stem. I decided to have a look on the web and see what I could find out on the Three Musketeers. I found an article on Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Three_Musketeers). I quote a portion of the article below to give a bit of context for the pipe.

The Three Musketeers (French: Les Trois Mousquetaires [le tʁwɑ muskətɛːʁ]) is a historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the swashbuckler genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight for justice.

Set between 1625 and 1628, it recounts the adventures of a young man named d’Artagnan (a character based on Charles de Batz-Castelmore d’Artagnan) after he leaves home to travel to Paris, hoping to join the Musketeers of the Guard. Although d’Artagnan is not able to join this elite corps immediately, he is befriended by three of the most formidable musketeers of the age – Athos, Porthos and Aramis, “the three inseparables” – and becomes involved in affairs of state and at court.

The Three Musketeers is primarily a historical and adventure novel. However, Dumas frequently portrays various injustices, abuses, and absurdities of the Ancien Régime, giving the novel an additional political significance at the time of its publication, a time when the debate in France between republicans and monarchists was still fierce. The story was first serialised from March to July 1844, during the July Monarchy, four years before the French Revolution of 1848 violently established the Second Republic.

Jeff had cleaned up the pipe with his usual penchant for thoroughness. He scrubbed out the interior of the bowl and the exterior of the pipe with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the stem Soft Scrub All Purpose Cleaner and rinsed it off with warm water. I took photos of the pipe before I started my part of the restoration work. I took a photo of the bowl and rim top as well as both sides of the stem. They were clean and would polish up very well. The first photo below shows the crack in the shank side. It is a tight hairline crack that I need to address so it will be a pretty easy fix. I unscrewed the stem from the shank to deal with the crack in the shank side. I went through my brass bands and found the one that would fit the shank and bind the crack in the shank and shank end together more permanently. The second, third and fourth photos below show the crack clearly. I pressed the band onto the shank end by pressing it against the mat on my desktop. I took photos of the pipe after I had banded it. I took a photo of the shank end to show the band and the threads in the inside of the shank. It was pretty clear that my assessment of the stem/tenon situation was correct. I turned the stem onto the shank to get the fitting in the shank. I twisted the stem out of the shank. Sure enough it was a push tenon with a threaded fitment that fit in the shank end. I put a bead of glue on the fitting and let it set. I put the stem back on the shank and took pictures of the pipe with the band the stem. It looks quite good. I polished the meerschaum bowl with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiped it down after each pad with a damp cotton pad. I polished the acrylic stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust between each pad. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil after the stem was polished. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the carved d’Artagnan Meerschaum with some Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel carefully working to avoid letting it build up in the grooves of the carving. The meerschaum polished up well and the patina came to the surface. The golden, buttery coloured acrylic stem polished well and took on a rich glow. The small brass band worked well to repair the cracked shank and also gives a touch of class to the pipe. The unsmoked bowl looks very good and the pipe is ready to load with your favourite tobacco and break it in for yourself. The Figural Meerschaum looks very good. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 ½ inches, Diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches wide x 2 inches, Diameter of the chamber: 5/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 90grams/3.25oz. If you would like to add this pipe to your collection send me an email or a message and I will put it aside for you. Thanks for walking through this restoration with me it was a pleasure to work on.

Restoring an older BRC Meerschaum Bulldog

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Blog by Steve Laug

Jeff and I picked up old cased Bulldog on a pipe hunt on the Oregon Coast. We asked at the counter if the clerk knew if they had any pipes in the store. She opened the counter display and took out this pipe case. The case looked old enough to get my heart going. Generally they have something interesting in them – though I have had the disappointment of opening an empty case. When she handed it to me I felt the weight and knew that there was a pipe inside. I took a deep breath and opened the case and let out a sigh of relief. The pipe looked good and it looked old. Jeff came to the counter then and I showed it to him. A deal was struck and the pipe left the store with us. I left it with Jeff so he would work his cleanup magic on it. Jeff took a photo of the case and with it opened to reveal the pipe and in doing so I was able to relive this find. I still remember the two older women who ran the store and the conversation that the pipe initiated. It was a good day! Jeff opened the case and took a photo to show the embossed label in the cover of the pipe case. It was an oval that with a circle holding BRC split into three quadrants in the centre. On either side it was flanked by Genuine Meerschaum. The case was lined with plush red material and the exterior was covered in a worn brown leather.He took a photo the pipe as he removed it from the case and after he laid it on the table before he did the clean up. The pipe is actually very dirty. There is a thick cake in the and an overflow of lava on the rim top. There appear to be scratches in the rim top surface as well. The bowl is dirty and heavily scratched. The twin rings around the bowl are damaged and filed in with grit and grime. The shank and the lower part of the bowl was starting to get a nice patina. The silver band was very dirty and oxidized. There is no stamping on the shank or the band. The stem is not amber nor is it newer acrylic. I believe it is Amberoid – a man made amber material that was a material consisting of small pieces of amber or sometimes other resins united by heat and pressure. It appears to be the original stem as the fit to the shank is perfect and it is threaded for the bone tenon. There are light tooth marks and chatter on the surface of the stem ahead of the button. Otherwise it is a clean looking stem.Jeff took close-up photos of the bowl and rim top from various angles to capture the condition of the bowl and rim top edges. There was a very thick cake in the bowl and you can see the overflow of lava and scratches in the rim top and edges. You can also see the nicks and damage to the cap of the bowl.Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show condition of the meer. You can see the damage to the rings on the right side and the many scratches around the sides and heel of the bowl.Jeff took photos of the shank stem junction with the tarnished silver band. The shape of the stem is perfect for the shank and band. If it is a replacement stem it is very well done. The next photos of the stem to show the general condition of the amberoid stem shape. The flow of the stem is perfect for the diamond shank Bulldog. He took photos of the top and underside of the stem to show the light tooth chatter on both sides near the button. He also shows the orific button on the end of the stem. I looked for the BRC brand on Pipedia and on Pipephil with no luck. I have no idea if the pipe is English, French, Austrian or otherwise. There was nothing to help me identify the maker. Ah well it is a well made mystery. If any of you can help out with information on the make I will greatly appreciate your help. Thank you.

Having seen the before pictures on this pipe I did not know what to expect when I unpacked the most recent box Jeff sent to me. The pipe was present in the box with other cased pipes so as I took each one out and opened it I waited to see if it was this one. When I finally opened a case and this pipe was there I did not know what to expect. I put the worn and tired case on my desk and opened it to see what was there. I opened the case and took a photo of the pipe inside.I was astonished to see how clean the pipe was. The pipe appeared to be very clean. The scratches in the meerschaum looked to have lessened a bit but I was not sure. Now it was time to take it out of the case and have a look at it up close and personal. Jeff had done another incredible job in cleaning up this meerschaum. He had carefully reamed the bowl with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife, scraping away the thick cake on the walls of the bowl. He also scraped off the lava on the rim top. Though there were still scratches it was clean. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime on the bowl and rim and was able to remove much of the grime and dirt. He cleaned out the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol until they came out clean. The rim top looked much better when you compare it with where it started. There is some still some darkening and scratching but the bowl was clean. He cleaned the stem with Soft Scrub to remove the grime on the exterior and cleaned out the airway with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I took some photos of the pipe as I saw it. To show how clean the rim top and stem really was I took a close-up photo of the rim and stem. The bowl was clean and cake free. The rim top is quite clean and the inner edge of the bowl has all of the lava removed. There is still some scratching in the meerschaum on the rim top that I would like to remove but it is very clean. The rich golden amber coloured stem looks very good. The surface and the button edge look really good. There are no issues that are there to address. The tarnished silver band had a rich shine to it now as well.I removed the stem from the bowl and took photos of the parts. When I unscrewed it the stem came off the tenon. In this case it was made that way. It was older style bone tenon and it had been anchored in the shank of the pipe. The stem was threaded and screwed on and off the stationary tenon.I decided to address the darkening and scratching on the rim top and edges first. I also worked over the bowl and shank to polish out the scratching as much as I could. I polished it with the micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads to remove the darkening and the scratches on the rim top and bowl. I wiped it down with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. When I finished the bowl and rim top looked significantly better. I have had a jar of Clapham’s Beeswax Polish here for quite a while. I have used it quite often on meerschaum pipes in the past and it works great. I just had forgotten about it until today. I applied several coats to the meerschaum and buffed it out by hand. The bowl was finished so I set it aside and turned my attention to the stem. Since it was quite clean I decided to polish it with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with a cloth containing some Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and buffed it off with a cotton cloth. Even though the stem is amberoid I decided to give it a coat of Briarville’s No Oxy Oil to preserve and protect it. I put the bowl and stem back together again and buffed it with a microfiber cloth to raise the shine on the meerschaum and the acrylic stem. The hand buffing adds depth to the shine. I had already given the bowl multiple coats of Clapham’s Beeswax Polish so I buffed the stem with some Carnauba on the buffing wheel. The Beeswax Polish is a soft wax that I can apply with a soft cotton pad and buff with a microfiber cloth. The colours of the pipe came alive and looked great to me. It has a great feel in the hand and the interesting patina should continue to develop as the pipe is smoked. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: 5/8 of an inch. This Meerschaum Bulldog has some age on it and it is a beauty whose scratches and dings tell a story of its journey. To me they make it interesting. It should make someone a great pipe. It is one that will be on the rebornpipes store very soon. If you are interested let me know. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.