CHAP Large Smooth Straight Billiard Estate Pipe - French, Vulcanite Fishtail Stem, No Filter

The shank carries one name, stamped plain: CHAP. Nothing else survives on this pipe to tell its own history - no shape number, no city, no date - so the pipe has to speak for itself, and it speaks through size and use. This is a French estate pipe, a large straight billiard in a smooth finish, fitted with a tapered vulcanite stem cut to a fishtail bit. No filter system is fitted; the airway runs open from the button to the chamber floor. The billiard is the shape most collectors learn on, and for good reason. A cylindrical bowl set at a right angle to a straight shank, with walls thick enough to hold heat evenly and a chamber deep enough to burn a full bowl of tobacco without scorching the briar below the tobacco line. Every other classic shape - the apple, the dublin, the pot - is a variation worked off this same basic geometry. A straight billiard like this one is meant to be held level in the hand or set flat on a rest; there is no bend to orient, no top or bottom to mind. At 158mm (6.3") overall length and with a bowl height of 50mm (2.0"), this reads as a large example of the shape. The chamber measures 20mm across and 45mm deep, a volume that holds a substantial charge of tobacco and favors an unhurried smoke over a quick one. No filter system is fitted to this pipe. An open bore keeps the airway at a constant diameter from the tobacco chamber to the button, with nothing narrowing the draw or catching moisture along the way; many smokers prefer this over a filtered system for exactly that reason. The stem itself is vulcanite - hard rubber, the material pipe makers have relied on for stems since the mid-19th century for its combination of light weight, workability, and a bite that softens slightly with wear rather than cracking. It is cut to a taper, narrowing from shank to button, and finished with a fishtail slot: a bit that widens and flattens at the tip, splitting the airway so smoke spreads across the tongue rather than arriving in a single jet. The finish is smooth - the briar's own surface polished rather than sandblasted or rusticated. Grain pattern and color are best judged from the photographs themselves. THE MARKS - CHAP, stamped on the shank Condition: This is a pre-smoked estate pipe, graded very good overall. The vulcanite stem shows scratches and small dents on the mouthpiece from years of use. The rim carries one small burn spot. No other damage is noted. THE MEASUREMENTS Length 158mm (6.3") - Bowl height 50mm (2.0") - Bowl width 40mm (1.6") - Chamber depth 45mm (1.8") - Chamber diameter 20mm (0.8") - Weight 1.9 oz Ships from the Faridunhill / Pipe Collectors Encyclopedia archive. Worldwide shipping and professional sanitation on every estate pipe. SKU: 005