Tsuge (Japan) Volcano Grade CD #44
An oval shanked Volcano style bowl with good, if not
particularly tight straight grain all around the bowl.  It’s a grade
CD and currently sports a price tag of only $340, which is an
extremely favorable $200 under retail.  Just tellin’ ya.
Stats: 4.75” long, bowl 1 7/8” tall, at highest point (bowl rim
angles down toward smoker); Weight 1.48 oz. 42.2 grams. New.
$340
Tsuge Ikebana C #514 7888MB
One of the great, classic, comfortable-to-smoke shapes that
Tsuge makes.  And maybe the best part of their finer pipes is
the hand-cut stem.  This one is in excellent condition with a lot
of good straight grain.  Used. Price: $195.
5.3" long, bowl 1.95" tall.  Weight: 1.25 oz., 36 grams.
Pulvers' Prior Briar
P.O. Box 61146
Palo Alto, CA  94306

Phone/Fax:
(650) 965-7403
Email:
mpulvers@aol.com
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Block Meerschaum #1123069
Unsmoked and with a surprisingly good draw.  The label in the
case only says it's a Turkish block meerschaum; no brand
name is given and I can not read the logo on the stem.  The
carving certainly isn't going to get the maker into the Louvre,
but it's not bad and the stone seems pretty good. Medium large.
5.25" long, bowl 2.25" tall. Weight: 2 3/8 oz., 66 grams. $50.
Tsuge Grade F #1031 9034 (SOLD 1/9/12)
To me, an irresistible cross grain pattern with a graceful
upsweep of a bowl.  It makes me feel that Tsuge is again
making beautiful, original looking pipes of high quality.
5.15" long, bowl 2.8" tall.  Weight: 2 1/4 oz., 63 grams. $880
Tsuge D #1123119JC (RESERVED)
Both beautiful and striking, with a lot of straight grain all around
(it does fall off a bit over the shank, but there is nothing like a
bare spot).  The condition is excellent, or even better.
6.9" long, bowl 1.95" tall.  Weight: 1 7/8 oz., 53 grams. $290
Tsuge D Grade Ikebana #9130228
A beautiful and delicate version of a straight, Squat Bulldog
with Bird's Eye above the bead and on the bottom.  I think that
this is the size and shape that some of those klunky stubby
Rhodesian-like pipes intend to emulate.  And if not, they should.
5.25" long, bowl 1.3" tall.  Weight: 1 3/4 oz., 49 grams. $660.
Tsuge E Grade #1031 9041
As I beleive I say elsewhere on this site, I am drawn to the
forward-canted bowl.  This one has its complement of straight
grain and an excellent hand-cut ebonite stem.  The draw is
wide-open, as you would expect.  A classic done well.
5.85" long, bowl 1.9" tall.  Weight: 1 3/8 oz., 38 grams. $560
Tsuge E Grade #1031 9044
Great flame-grain notwithstanding, this also has a marvelously
comfortable hand feel, in either the left or right fist.  The stem is
thin, narrow, comfortable and the beginning of a wide-open
draw.  The great finish lets you know it's a true high grade pipe.
4.95" long, bowl 1.95" tall.  Weight: 2 1/4 oz., 63 grams. $560
"about Smoke...An Encyclopaedia of Smoking"
This is quite a nifty book.  I wish I could show you all the
illustrations, which include page after page of fabulous looking
Dunhill pipes,and pipe sets and tobacco tins and accessories.
Oh, to have had the opportunity, and knowledge, to walk into a
store stocked with these items and be able to both see and
appreciate them.  I love, for instance, the statement, "The
drastic shrinking process, which only perfect bowls survive,
would seem to render the finished 'Shell' practically an
everlasting pipe."  Amen to that.  The book is $25 plus postage.
Meerschaum Cigar Holder
This old meerschaum and amber (at least I think it's amber)
takes about a cheroot size and it still works, but I must say, I
think of it more as a collector's piece than as a working
holder.  It's about 4 1/4" long, and the opening 15/32 or an inch
or just shy of 1/2".  On the other side of the stem, near the
button is a dark, rough spot.  $25.
Meerschaum #9130127 (SOLD)
Although there's no brand name on the pipe or the case, this is
clearly a quality piece of stone.  It is the same kind of case that
Dunhill used for their meerschaums.  The cond. is exc.
although as with so many meerschaums, it could draw better.
6.3" long, bowl 1.95" tall.  Weight: 1.5 oz., 44 grams. $50.
Calabash #1123094ME (SOLD 1/3/12)
This true gourd Calabash is in good condition, with a
meerschaum cup that is free of chips and a stem with no teeth
marks.  It is easily in the "large" range and maybe larger. $45.
Tsuge C Grade #9130238
A very handsome Churchwarden style bowl, including the "foot"
that is modeled from old clays.  I prefer not to say things like
the following for fear of raising expectations beyond the
reasonable, but this pipe is much more handsome in the flesh
than it is in a photo.  Again, the Tsuge hand-cut stem provides
for a marvelously comfortable mouth-feel.  They do stems great.
7.15" long, bowl 1.8" tall.  Weight: 1 1/4 oz., 36 grams. $540.
Merschaum #530194BG
In looks, size, heft, this is an appealing pipe.  And the condition
is certainly acceptable.  So where's the rub?  The G-D draw,
that's where, or put another way, the one critical aspect if a
pipe is to be smoked.  I will attempt to correct that, and it's
possible I'll be successful, but don't bet the ranch. Assuming
success: 6.5" long, bowl 2.25" tall. Weight: 1.75 oz., 51 gm. $45.
Butz Choquin (B.C.) Flamme Major #1123018
For a pipe of this quality, the French maker missed a beat by
not going the extra mile and a half and putting a hand-cut stem
on it.  As it is, with this molded vulcanite, it is still a handsome
pipe with very good straight grain almost all around and a
handsome sculpted look.  The condition is near-new and the
draw is wide-open.  It's probably a Grp. 4.5 in size.  A good size.
5.85" long, bowl 1.8" tall.  Weight: 1 3/8 oz., 38 grams. $75.
Tsuge E Grade #9130222
Very good looking briar, and that's not counting the fine
straight grain that goes all around the bowl.  The stemwork, too
is excellent and helps make this a pipe to hold in the mouth.
The Tsuge carving skill is still at the top of the scale.
5" long, bowl 2" tall.  Weight: 2 1/8 oz., 62 grams. $780.
Tsuge D Grade #9130234
This piece combines two elements I can't help but find intriguing
and seductive in a pipe, a forward canted bowl and an Egg
shaped bowl.  Having said that, I think that the superb stemwork
is the gem here, resulting in a marvelously comfortable pipe.
5.9" long, bowl 2" tall.  Weight: 1 3/8 oz., 40 grams. $660.
Jirsa 3 Star #1123173GN
A pipe that is as slim in the hand as it appears to be in the
photos above.  The condition is excellent and the draw is wide
open.  Pretty good cross grain and clean looking briar.  The
light weight is good indication that the wood has been well aged.
7" long, bowl 1.95" tall.  Weight: 1.5 oz., 43 grams. Price: $65
Jirsa 3 Star #1123179GN
Along with this well sculpted briar is an open draw and well
placed cross grain.  The Bird's Eye could be more prominent,
but the condition is pretty much like-new.  The chamber is deep.
6" long, bowl 2.35" tall.  Weight: 2 3/8 oz., 68 grams. $85
B.C. Maitre-Pipier Deluxe #1123045
I must have been in a rush to get this photographed because
those black spots on the rim easily came off...they were just
surface carbon and are no longer on the pipe.  There is still a
little carbon on the inner rim, no real wear and the rest of the
pipe is in excellent condition.  The draw is open, too.
6.9" long, bowl 2.85" tall.  Weight: 2 1/4 oz., 65 grams. $75.
Artist Ismail Meerschaum #1225169 (SOLD 1/27/12)
The carving is well executed on this artist signed meerschaum.
The draw is not bad, either, although I really think the Turks
should have learned to properly construct a pipe and stem
after all these years.  Of course, the same can be said for the
Irish and their blasted Peterson P-lips.   It's so true, some
people never learn.  Anyhow, whatever this fellow is, a Prussian
or Otto Von B., it's not a bad pipe.
6" long, bowl 3.25" tall.  Weight: 3 7/8 oz., 109 grams. $75.
Ismet Bekler "Tiki" #1225199 (SOLD 1/26/12)
So we know that this pipe was made in 1981 and that it is #44
of 100.  That leads me to believe it was commissioned by the
T.A.A. (Tobacconist's Assoc. of America?) a select group of
tobacco retailers who put join up to leverage their buying power
and put out a nice little catalog of the products they all choose
to buy while at a very nice outing in some fine resort each year.
 I was asked to join and did, for but one year.  It quickly dawned
on me that I am not an exclusive kind of guy and just as quickly
de-selected myself.  Oh, yes, the pipe.  Anyhow, it has a very
fine feel to it, and if you know Bekler, you know how well
sculpted his pipes are.  He's a marvelous sculptur as well as a
great carver.  The draw is open, especially for a meerschaum,
and the pipe does sit up.  It's in very good condition.
5.35" long, bowl 2.4" tall.  Weight: 2 1/8 oz., 60 grams. $85.