Oldenkott Toscana Bruyere Select Smooth Bent Billiard Estate Pipe

OLDENKOTT over TOSCANA, two lines of capitals on the shank: this is an Oldenkott Toscana, a smooth bent billiard of large size on a vulcanite tapered stem with a fishtail mouthpiece. It takes no filter.

It is pre-smoked, in good condition. A previous owner repaired a bite mark, but it can still be seen under light, and layers still need to be removed from the chamber. TOSCANA reads in the stamp, while the OLDENKOTT line is faint.

Oldenkott began as a name in tobacco, not in pipes. Two family lines, Henricus Oldenkott of Rees and Hermannus Oldenkott of Ahaus, go back to the 1740s and 1760s. August Kersten of Rees bought the Heinric Oldenkott factories at Elten and Weesp in 1838, and the business became one of the largest tobacco firms in Germany.

The pipes came in the twentieth century. Berlin newspapers advertised "Original Oldenkott" pipes in 1926; in 1929 the firm took over the Hermann-Oldenkott factories at Ahaus and Neuss, and it began making its own pipes in 1932. After the war Oldenkott stood second among German pipe makers, behind Vauen. Niemeijer of the Netherlands bought Oldenkott in 1972, tobacco was given up in 1974, the Kersten family bought the pipe company back in 1987, and the factory closed in 1992. Since 2012 the marks have belonged to Alexander Strahnz of Cologne, whose Oldenkott pipes are made in Italy.

THE MARKS

- OLDENKOTT in capitals, stamped on the shank (faint)
- TOSCANA in capitals, stamped under it
- BRUYERE SELECT: not visible in the photographs

Toscana is an Oldenkott line name. An incomplete list of Oldenkott models on Pipedia gives Toscana the shape numbers 132, 133, 210 and 823, numbers only, with no shape names, and no number shows in the photographs of this pipe. No date is given for it.

The billiard is the classic pipe shape: a bowl shaped like a cylinder, set on a shank. This one is bent, and the bowl is 48 mm high and 38 mm wide around a chamber 20 mm across and 43 mm deep. The pipe is 140 mm long and weighs 60 g. The vulcanite stem tapers from the shank to the fishtail mouthpiece.

The finish is smooth, and the grain shows on the bowl.

THE MEASUREMENTS

- Length: 140 mm (5.51 in)
- Bowl height: 48 mm (1.89 in)
- Bowl width: 38 mm (1.50 in)
- Chamber diameter: 20 mm (0.79 in)
- Chamber depth: 43 mm (1.69 in)
- Weight: 60 g (2.12 oz)

Ships from the Faridunhill archive. Worldwide shipping and professional sanitation on every estate pipe. SKU: 454