87. The Antique Nickel Wind Caps
If you follow Peterson, then you know there’s been a bit of excitement in the past few months with the appearance of the first Antique Nickel Cap pipes. As more will be coming when suitable bowls become available, I thought everyone would like to know a bit about them as well as see some samples of Peterson’s work with these treasures. When I talked to Conor Palmer, commercial director at Peterson, he said, “Believe it or not, on this occasion, there wasn’t a shred of paper work to accompany the caps as we found them. They were literally in a box in the factory that myself and Jason Hinch went through before Christmas. They had to spend quite a lot of time polishing them up [out in the shop] so that we could see whether they were usable or not.” “How many will there be?” is probably the first question on everyone’s mind. Conor says, “I would estimate that we are likely to release a maximum of 300 pieces. I think we have released about 100 so far." It turns out there are two separate types of cap. For one we have good documentation, and for the other we can make some reasonable deductions. The 1906 Hinge Cap 1906 Shape 12 AB Hinge Cap The 1906 catalog illustrates no less than five different shapes of varying sizes with what we’ll call the 1906 Hinge Cap. Notice these caps were available in both sterling and nickel. The intaglio engraving of the 12AB pictured above gives us the best view of it. The first point of interest is in the hinge placement: when raised, the pipeman potentially has an obstructed or partially obstructed view of the chamber. The lid would actually drop back, of course, to rest on the shank, but it’s s a curious bit of engineering all the same. It’s just not performance friendly, trying to light tobacco with the lid coming down where one’s finger and thumb are holding the bowl, and whether Jason Hinch, Peterson's silversmith, was aware of the original or not, I much prefer having the hinge on the forward part of the crown. None of the engravings shows mounting pins, another curious feature. One wonders whether the caps were so well engineered that the pins weren’t necessary, whether they were glued to preserve a smooth line, or for some other reason. In any event, the decision to use three equally placed tacks to secure it seems like a good idea. The 1906 Maker's Mark Stamp As to the stamps: the 1906 nickel Hinge Cap features Kapp & Peterson’s original maker’s mark, a plain K & P. As we note in The Peterson Pipe Book glossary: “The K&P punch was registered with the Company of Goldsmiths of Dublin on November 25, 1893, after Kapp & Peterson came into being, and has been used thereafter.” It’s been on all nickel-mount Systems and many other nickel-mount Classic Range lines, as well as on many sterling mounts over…