by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is a squat Rhodesian or saucer shaped pipe. We purchased it from an antique shop in Ogden, Utah, USA on 10/10/2024. It is a nicely sandblasted Rhodesian that has a great finish. The rim top is in great condition and is sandblasted along with the bowl. It is stamped on the underside of the shank and reads T.P.E. [over] Hand Made [over] 2. There was a moderate cake in the bowl and some light lava spots on the rim top. The stem was lightly oxidized and there were some light tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. They tell the story and give a glimpse of the promise that we see in this pipe. He took a photo of the rim top and bowl to show the current condition. The inner edge and the rim top looked good and had some spots of lava as mentioned above. The photos of the bowl walls show the moderate cake on the walls. The stem photos show the oxidation and light marks on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took a photo of the heel of the bowl to give a sense of the condition of the bowl and the look of the sandblast around the bowl. It is a beauty.He took photos of the underside of the shank to capture the stamping. It was clear and readable as noted above.The TPE stamping was unknown to me so I did a quick check on Pipephil’s site and Pipedia and there was nothing listed with those initials of what I came understand was the abbreviation for Tobacco Pipe Exporters. I did a Google search and found a conversation on Pipesmagazine forum and found Jonas Clark’s comments very helpful. I have included both the link to the conversation below as well as Clark’s comments. https://pipesmagazine.com/forums/threads/bamboo-shank-briar-stamped-t-p-e-maker.66712/

jonasclark —

I’m in Seattle, as is Tobacco Pipe Exporters, and I know the shop (F. K. Kirsten) has other pipes I see on the TPE website, so this must be theirs. I don’t see any bamboo on their website, though. Most of what they show is very basic, but this is a fancy pipe. As are another I’ve had no luck IDing (but which isn’t marked TPE), the ‘hole pipes’ shown a ways down their page, which have plateau tops – they’re stamped La Scala.

I see that TPE claims to be importers for Amadeus Pipe Co. out of Greece, on whom I can find little except an expired domain name.

Update: I spoke to Kevin Brackett at Tobacco Pipe Exporters. He told me he has an arrangement with a carver, who would like to sell high-grade pipes someday but feels he’s not ready yet. Kevin buys his pipes inexpensively, stamps them TPE, and sells them inexpensively (about $150 for these bamboo shank models). He gives this carver free reign to make whatever he likes. For this reason, he won’t say who carved this pipe, or even where he’s from! However, he has a few more such pipes, and I’ll be looking at them in a week or so. If anyone here might be interested, I’ll get photos and prices, and would offer them here for exactly what he charges me.
The “La Scala” hole or bridge pipes with plateau are an Italian import TPE sells, and they have some of those, too. The F.K. Kirsten shop is their only Washington retailer.

Now it was time to work on the pipe. Since Jeff always follows the same pattern of work in his cleanup we do not include photos but rather just a simple summary. Jeff reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the rim and the grime on the finish of the bowl. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. He was able to remove the spotty lava build up on the rim top and edges of the rim. He soaked the stem in some of Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and rinsed it with warm water. He dried if off with a soft cloth. The stem was clean and the remnants of oxidation were gone. I took photos of what the pipe looked like when I brought to my worktable. I took close up photos of the bowl, rim top and stem to show how clean the pipe was. The bowl was clean and the rim top and the inner edge looked good. The stem was clean and there were light tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is clear and readable and read as noted above. I also removed the stem from the shank and took photos of the pipe to show the look of the parts.The bowl is in excellent condition. I started by working some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I set the bowl aside and turned to the stem. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. Once I had finished the polishing I gave it final coat of oil and set it aside to dry. I am excited to finish this TPE Hand Made 2 Squat Rhodesian with a vulcanite saddle stem. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the mix of grain on the sides of the bowl. Added to that the black vulcanite saddle stem was beautiful. This smooth TPE Hand Made 2 Squat Rhodesian is great looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 2 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 38 grams /1.34 ounces. It turned out to be a beautiful pipe. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the American Pipe Makers section. If you are interested in adding it to your rack let me know by message or by email to slaug@uniserve.com. Thanks for your time reading the blog. I appreciate it.