Oldenkott Red and Black Bent Billiard Estate Pipe - Smooth Briar, Oval Shank, 9mm Filter

Not every billiard stands upright and straight-shanked. This one bends, and the shank turns oval rather than round - and the stamp on it names its own grade: OLDENKOTT RED AND BLACK.

This is a German-made Oldenkott pipe: a bent billiard, smooth finish, oval shank, sized by the maker close to a 4 - "almost," per the seller's grading, meaning just shy of a full size 4 on the house's own scale. A tapered vulcanite stem carries a fishtail bit and a 9mm filter chamber.

Oldenkott's roots run through a tobacco dynasty going back to the mid-1700s, through the Henricus Oldenkott line at Rees and the Hermannus Oldenkott line at Ahaus, with a house in Amsterdam recorded in an 1918 print as 'Herms, Oldenkott und Zonen in Ahaus mit einem Zweiggeschaft in Amsterdam.' In 1838 August Kersten of Rees bought the Heinric Oldenkott factories at Elten and Weesp, and the firm grew into one of Germany's largest tobacco houses - Oldenkott Knaster was smoked in exile by Kruger, whose likeness appeared on the packets. Pipes came later. 'Original Oldenkott' pipes were advertised nationally in Berlin from 1926, the Ahaus and Neuss Hermann-Oldenkott factories were bought in 1929, and the German company began making its own pipes in 1932. After the war, Oldenkott ranked as Germany's second largest pipe maker, behind Vauen. Niemeijer of the Netherlands bought the firm in 1972; tobacco production stopped in 1974, leaving pipes as the sole line. The Kersten family bought the pipe works back in 1987. The factory closed in 1992. In 2012 the marks passed to Alexander Strahnz of Cologne, who revived the name with Italian-made production.

THE MARKS
- OLDENKOTT RED AND BLACK - stamped grade name on the shank

The oval shank is a small departure from the round-shank norm most billiards carry, and it changes how the pipe reads in the hand and in a rack: the flat top and bottom form a deliberate line running from bowl to bit rather than a simple cylinder. A bent billiard keeps the cylindrical bowl and in-line shank geometry of the billiard family but curves the shank and stem downward from the heel, dropping the bit closer to the jaw and shifting the balance in a way a straight billiard does not share. The tapered vulcanite stem narrows steadily from shank to button, and the fishtail bit - a slot that widens into two flat tines at the exit - spreads the airflow across the tongue rather than delivering it as a single jet, a detail smokers who dislike a hard, hot draw look for. At a bowl height of 54mm and a chamber depth of 48mm, this is built as a large pipe, suited to a long smoke rather than a quick bowl between errands.

The briar is finished smooth. For grain and color, see the photographs.

Condition: pre-smoked, graded very good. Faint scratches are present across the briar surface. No fills, cracks, or repairs are noted.

THE MEASUREMENTS
- Length: 138mm / 5.5"
- Bowl height: 54mm / 2.2"
- Bowl width: 44mm / 1.8"
- Chamber depth: 48mm / 1.9"
- Chamber diameter: 20mm / 0.8"
- Weight: 2.2 oz
- Filter: 9mm

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

SKU: 370