The oxblood stain really works well to highlight and showcase the grain. It is a beautifully grained and finished pipe. Jeff took photos of the bowl from various angles to give a picture of the grain and the condition on the finish of the pipe. You can see the chipped areas around the rim top and the lava in the plateau in the photos below. It was dirty as well with some nicks in the finish. The finish on the bowl was cordovan or oxblood. There was a cake in the bowl and some lava overflow on the plateau. The original colour had been black but the dust had turned it almost grey. The pipe was dirty and there were some worn spots on the plateau rim top. Jeff took some photos of the pipe before he began his cleanup work on it. There appears to be remnants of gold leaf in the stamping on both sides of the shank. On the underside of the shank it is stamped with the letter F. To the left is a very tight stamp France. The name is also stamped on the left side of the half saddle stem. It is stamped on the left side of the curved shank with the words Ben Wade in script over Calabash. I have never seen one of these before even though I have worked on a lot of both English and Danish Ben Wade pipes. Jeff picked this pipe up from a favourite shop in Utah. The shape and flow of the briar, the rich red stains and the curve of the Lucite stem all combine to create a shape that is elegant and beautiful. Claude, France Ben Wade Calabash is quite stunning.
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