Oldenkott Nicofry 518 Dark Sandblast Bent Billiard Estate Pipe

Oldenkott in flowing script, and under it NICOFRY 518 in capitals on an underline: this is an Oldenkott Nicofry, a bent billiard in dark sandblast on a vulcanite tapered stem.

The stem ends in a fishtail mouthpiece and takes a 9mm filter, and a small round emblem with short rays is stamped on its side. NICOFRY and 518 read clearly; the last letters of the Oldenkott script are slightly worn. It is pre-smoked, in very good condition.

The Oldenkott name is older than its pipes. It belongs to a family of tobacco makers whose lines go back to the 1740s and 1760s, Henricus Oldenkott in Rees and Hermannus Oldenkott in Ahaus; a print of 1918 still names the Ahaus house with a branch in Amsterdam. In 1838 August Kersten of Rees bought the Heinric Oldenkott factories at Elten and Weesp, and the firm grew into one of the largest tobacco houses in Germany. In 1901 Paul Kruger's likeness appeared on its Knaster tobacco packets.

Pipes followed in the twentieth century. "Original Oldenkott" pipes were advertised in Berlin newspapers in 1926. In 1929 the company bought the Hermann-Oldenkott factories at Ahaus and Neuss, and in 1932 its own pipe production began. After the war Oldenkott was Germany's second pipe maker, behind Vauen. The Dutch firm Niemeijer bought the company in 1972; tobacco production stopped in 1974, and from then on the firm made only pipes. The Kersten family bought the pipe company back in 1987, and it closed in 1992. In 2012 the marks passed to Alexander Strahnz of Cologne, who brought the name back with pipes made in Italy.

THE MARKS

- Oldenkott in script, stamped on the shank
- NICOFRY 518 in capitals with an underline, stamped under the script
- a small round emblem with short rays, stamped on the side of the stem

Nicofry is one of the quality names in Oldenkott's 1973 catalogue. That catalogue's shape table, as printed on Pipedia, lists 518 among the smooth Nicofry numbers, while it lists the sandblasted Nicofry numbers as 531 to 542; this pipe is sandblasted. The table gives numbers only, with no shape names.

A billiard is the classic pipe shape: a bowl shaped like a cylinder, set on a shank. This bowl is 46 mm high and 36 mm wide around a chamber 19 mm across and 38 mm deep, and the vulcanite stem tapers from the shank to the fishtail bit.

The finish is a dark sandblast over the bowl and shank. Sandblasting removes the softer wood between the growth rings and leaves the harder rings standing, which gives the briar a rugged, ridged surface.

The script wordmark and a Nicofry number from the 1973 catalogue tie the pipe to the Oldenkott range, but no mark gives its year.

Condition: pre-smoked, in very good condition.

THE MEASUREMENTS

- Length: 140 mm (5.51 in)
- Bowl height: 46 mm (1.81 in)
- Bowl width: 36 mm (1.42 in)
- Chamber diameter: 19 mm (0.75 in)
- Chamber depth: 38 mm (1.50 in)
- Weight: 43 g (1.52 oz)

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