Peterson's System 309 Sandblast Large Bent Dutch, Made in Ireland Circle, Pre-Republic c.1945-1947, Nickel Band, P-Lip

PETERSON'S SYSTEM, the numbers 0 and 309, and MADE IN IRELAND set in a circle: this shank was stamped before Ireland became a republic. This is a Peterson's System 309, the large bent Dutch, in a sandblast finish, with a nickel band stamped PETERSON DUBLIN, a vulcanite tapered stem with the Peterson P-Lip, and a 9mm filter.

It is pre-smoked and in good overall condition; after several cleanings the inner rim is a little out of round. Please see the photographs, which are part of this description.

The maker's own catalogue dates the Kapp shop to 1865, the Peterson System to 1890 and the Peterson Lip to 1898, with the shop at 117 Grafton Street. In 1894 Alfred Henry Kapp, Christian Kapp and Charles Peterson, pipe makers and tobacconists of Grafton Street, went to court against a Dublin tobacconist who had copied Charles Peterson's patent pipe, "known as Kapp's pipe or Peterson's pipe"; the court described the System as a reservoir in the bowl together with a mouthpiece that keeps moisture from returning to the mouth, and granted a permanent injunction. By the 1896 catalogue the firm was Kapp & Peterson Ltd, selling Peterson's Patent No. 9059, and its "latest improvement" was an upright bore on the upper part of the lip of the mouthpiece - the lip later known as the P-Lip.

THE MARKS
- PETERSON'S SYSTEM stamped on the shank
- 0 stamped on the shank
- 309 stamped on the shank
- MADE IN IRELAND stamped in a circle on the shank
- K & P in three shields over PETERSON / DUBLIN on the nickel band

Mark Irwin's guide to the System shapes traces it to shape 4 of the 1896 catalogue, one of a set of Dutch billiards; in the 1937 catalogue it became the 4AB, with 309 as the second-quality and 359 as the third-quality number. Collectors know the shape as the "Thinking Man" or the "Basil Rathbone". Irwin records 2013 as the last year of general production of the 309. The pipe is bent, and the sandblast covers the bowl and the shank.

DATING
Two marks on this shank work together. MADE IN IRELAND without the words "Republic of" places the pipe before Ireland became a republic in April 1949. Irwin dates the number 309 itself to the 1937 catalogue, so the stamp cannot be older than 1937. Within 1937-1949, the Peterson dating guides place MADE IN IRELAND in a circle at about 1945-1947, between the MADE IN EIRE circle of 1938 to about 1941 and the block MADE IN IRELAND of about 1947-1949. The band does not narrow this: its K & P shields are Kapp & Peterson's initials, not a hallmark, and carry no date letter. The best reading is a pre-Republic Peterson made about 1945-1947.

THE MEASUREMENTS
- Length: 148 mm (5.83 in)
- Bowl height: 52 mm (2.05 in)
- Bowl width: 32 mm (1.26 in)
- Chamber diameter: 19 mm (0.75 in)
- Chamber depth: 45 mm (1.77 in)
- Weight: 44 g (1.55 oz)

Ships from the Faridunhill archive. Worldwide shipping and professional sanitation on every estate pipe. SKU: 597