Oldenkott Nicorfy Sandblast Bent Apple Vulcanite Saddle Stem 9mm Filter Fishtail Estate Pipe

Stamped Oldenkott Nicorfy on the shank, this bent apple has already done its work at the smoking table - the stem carries a bite mark from a previous owner who kept it in rotation, not on a shelf.

This is a sandblast bent apple pipe from Oldenkott, the German maker, marked Nicorfy on the shank, fitted with a vulcanite saddle stem and a fishtail slot over a 9mm filter chamber.

Bowl: briar
Stem: vulcanite
Mouthpiece: fishtail
Filter: 9mm
Stamped: "Oldenkott Nicorfy"

Oldenkott traces to a tobacco dynasty with roots in the 1740s and 1760s, split between the Henricus Oldenkott line at Rees and the Hermannus Oldenkott line at Ahaus, with a branch house recorded in Amsterdam. In 1838 August Kersten of Rees bought the Heinric Oldenkott factories at Elten and Weesp, building one of the larger German tobacco houses of the era - the firm behind the Knaster tobacco Kruger reportedly smoked in exile, his likeness appearing on the packets. "Original Oldenkott" pipes were advertised nationally in Berlin by 1926, and the company began its own German pipe production in 1932, after buying the Ahaus and Neuss Hermann-Oldenkott factories in 1929. Through the postwar decades Oldenkott ranked as Germany's second-largest pipe maker, behind Vauen. The Kersten family sold the pipe operation to Niemeijer in 1972; tobacco production stopped in 1974, leaving pipes as the sole line. The Kerstens bought the pipe company back in 1987 and closed it in 1992. The marks passed to Alexander Strahnz of Cologne in 2012, who restarted Oldenkott with Italian-made production.

Nicorfy does not appear among the sub-brand names most often documented for Oldenkott - Eminent, Excellent, Excelsior, Oldex, Derby, Egra among them. The shank carries no other identifying mark to place it more precisely within that lineup, so the stamp stands as the record of this particular line.

THE MARKS
- Shank stamp: "Oldenkott Nicorfy"

A bent apple sits among the rounder-bowled shapes on a rack, next to the bulldog and the Dublin, but where those carry flatter or more angular walls, the apple's bowl curves in one continuous line from shank to rim, with a flattened crown at the top of the chamber. Bent, it sits low in the hand and pulls the stem down toward the jaw rather than out from it, a posture some smokers find easier to hold through a long sitting. The saddle stem steps down from the shank in a single flat plane rather than a tapered cone, giving the mouthpiece a squared profile where the fingers meet it. The fishtail bit opens into two flat wings at the button, spreading the airway wider at the lip than a plain round bore, a cut seen more often on pipes built around a filter than on pipes smoked without one.

Sandblasting removes the softer, faster-growing wood between a briar block's growth rings and leaves the harder summer growth standing as ridges under the fingers. It is the finish most often chosen for briar with plainer figure, since the relief it raises gives the surface a texture and depth a smooth polish would not. Finish and grain: see the photographs.

Condition: the pipe has been smoked previously. Overall condition is good, per the seller's inspection. A bite mark is present on the stem. No cracks, fills, or repairs are reported.

THE MEASUREMENTS
- Length: 146.0mm (5.7in)
- Bowl height: 48.0mm (1.9in)
- Bowl width: 42.0mm (1.7in)
- Chamber diameter: 20.0mm (0.8in)
- Chamber depth: 38.0mm (1.5in)
- Weight: 46.0g (1.6oz)

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

SKU: 021