Jean Lacroix Maitre Pipier St Claude Smooth Straight Billiard Estate Pipe

The shank carries a name, not just a mark: Jean Lacroix, Maitre Pipier, A St. Claude, cut straight into the briar. No separate logo, no grade dot, no shape number beside it - just the maker's claim in his own words. A pipe stamped this way tells you it left one man's bench line rather than a numbered factory run.

This is a smooth-finished straight billiard, stamped Jean Lacroix Maitre Pipier A St. Claude on the shank. The stem is vulcanite, cut with a gentle taper down to a fishtail bit, and a metal band with a gold-tone finish sits at the join between shank and stem. No filter system is fitted; the bore runs open and unrestricted from tobacco to bit.

"Maitre Pipier" is French for "master pipe maker," a phrase pipe carvers used to mark their own work rather than a name a factory assigned to a product line. Stamped alongside a place name - here, St. Claude - it reads as a personal signature: this pipe, this maker, this town. Beyond what the stamp itself states, no further history travels with this piece.

The billiard is the reference shape against which every other bowl gets measured. A cylindrical bowl set on a straight shank, walls rising close to vertical from a flat base, a stem continuing the shank's line without a bend. It is the shape a new pipe smoker is often handed first, because nothing about its geometry hides a flaw or a virtue - bowl thickness, wall taper and draft hole placement all sit in plain view. On this example the bowl stands 49.0mm tall on a 35.0mm width, with a 20.0mm chamber bored to a 43.0mm depth - deep enough for a slow smoke and narrow enough to keep tobacco packed at an even burn. At 142.0mm overall and 33.5g, it sits in hand as a mid-weight billiard, built for holding as much as clenching, though the tapered vulcanite stem sits comfortably enough between the teeth for a shorter draw.

A smooth finish means the stummel is sanded through successive grits after shaping, then stained and buffed rather than blasted or carved back to raise the grain in relief. It puts nothing between the smoker's eye and the wood: whatever grain the block carried when it was cut is what shows on the surface. Finish and grain: see the photographs.

The fishtail bit - a stem end that widens and flattens toward the lip rather than tapering to a round button - spreads the airway slightly wider than a round bit and tends to sit more securely between the teeth over a long smoke. Vulcanite is the traditional stem material for briar pipes of this style: a hard rubber that takes a high polish when new and can dull with age and UV exposure if left unwaxed.

Condition: not yet graded - refer to the photographs; a detailed condition report is available on request.

THE MARKS
- Shank stamp: "Jean Lacroix Maitre Pipier A St. Claude"
- Metal band, gold-tone finish, at the shank/stem join

THE MEASUREMENTS
- Length: 142.0mm (5.6 in)
- Bowl height: 49.0mm (1.9 in)
- Bowl width: 35.0mm (1.4 in)
- Chamber diameter: 20.0mm (0.8 in)
- Chamber depth: 43.0mm (1.7 in)
- Weight: 33.5g (1.2 oz)

Ships from the Faridunhill / Pipe Collectors Encyclopedia archive. Worldwide shipping and professional sanitation on every estate pipe.

SKU: 410