Barling’s Make Family Era YOW EXEL Poker Estate Briar Pipe, English Estates

Description

B. Barling and Sons was originally founded in 1812 by Benjamin Barling and began as a family business making silver-adorned meerschaum pipes. In the early 20th century, however, the Barling family began to produce what the brand is today most famous for – expertly made briar pipes.

If one was to list the most esteemed and prized British pipe brands ever produced, it’s pretty certain that Barling would be in the top five. More specifically, it would be “family era” Barling pipes that held this stature, i.e., pipes made by the Barling family during their ownership and management of the B. Barling and Sons company. For detailed information on how to identify such pipes, the Pipedia article on the topic has excellent, collaborative resources by prominent Barling historians, and MBSD Pipes has its own three-step summary that can be found on our main hub (which I will link down below), but for now, rest assured that it is safe to say that this lovely Ye Olde Wood poker is indeed a family era piece—the most obvious tell being its arched “BARLING’S” stamp, situated above “MAKE”, and the absence of a shape code. This one is an EXEXL model, i.e., an extra, extra large sized Barling, though this is of course in comparison to early 20th century pipes, which were as a rule much smaller than is typical today.

The condition is very good. Some darkening and very light charring on the inside of the back rim, and a very small, superficial burn/handling mark on the shank’s underside.

https://www.mbsdpipes.com/dating-barling-pipes-a-three-step-guide/

 

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.76 / 19.30mm

Bowl Depth: 1.32″ / 33.52mm

Weight: 1.5oz / 44g