The Irish Harp line first appeared nineteen years ago in 2002, looking just like the smooth Irish Harp looks now, with a glossy, ruby-tinged walnut stain, sterling band with the Irish Harp, cumberland-pattern acrylic fishtail with imbedded aluminum P:
Smoker’s Guild #4 (2002)
The popularity of the line is evident in its continuous presence in the catalog since then. Not long ago, the new in-house sandblasted version of the line made its debut at Smokingpipes.Eu, and this morning (June 11, 2021), it debuted here in the US.
I am one of those pipeman who is equally fascinated and obsessed with smooth, sandblast and rustic finishes. I love them all for their unique visual, aesthetic and tactile properties, but the older I get the more I seem to enjoy the look and feel of blasted and rustic finishes.
I thought I might wait until next week to post about the Irish Harp Sandblast, but the problem is that this first batch is something special and I didn’t want anyone to miss out on it. What I mean is that, just like the Deluxe Classics issue recently and the Rosslare Classic Rusticated back in 2019, if you find yourself attracted to the line you might want to think about getting one now or at least putting one in layaway. The Rosslare Classic Rusticated first batch, for instance, has always seemed much craggier than subsequent issues.
I really like the blast and stain combination on these–it works well with the cumberland swirl stem. In making my way through the first batch on offer this morning, these caught my eye. There’s some lovely blasts on offer at SPC and doubtless coming to or at your favorite etailer or brick & mortar. Enjoy!
XL02 Fat Bottom
XL02 Ball
05
68
80S
[which should be stamped 80B since it’s a taper and not a saddle; just sayin’!]
106 (am I glad they didn’t list a 107 this morning…)
150
701
999
B10
XL90
69
230 (Love the old-fashioned bend on this)
406
606
264
The “One-Pager,” which I think of as a virtual or electronic strutcard
Many thanks to Andy Wike
Illustrations of 2021 Irish Harp Sandblasts
courtesy Laudisi Enterprises
Fabulous. My first estate pipe was a Harp and I still enjoy it. Great that the sandblasting is here; the pipes look wonderful. And that 230 with its unique curve and balanced angles is my own favourite, too. Hoping Smokingpipes.eu will have these soon.
Lovely pipes.
S
I like the 230 best, it just needs a ring-grain pattern for me though.
The Harp sandblasts almost got me. I didn’t see any that particularly caught my eye though, thankfully. It saved me some money?
Had there been a 107, I think there would have been a race to see who bought first.
We’ll keep our eyes open, shall we? I’d think they would bring the shape into the line at some point.
I am loving the new series and re-releases in new finishes. Eyeing one of the deluxe classics and will eventually pull the trigger on a harp SB.
Excuse my ignorance but what makes the stem on the 230 old fashioned? Is it the gentler curve of the stem?
Hi Papanek, well, to my mind “old-fashioned” means a very graceful arc reminiscent of the earliest Patent-era Petersons but seen in some shapes through the decades. “Gentle” is a good word. In the Laudisi-era K&P we are seeing a wide spectrum of stem bends, which is kind of fascinating. In past eras, K&P would stick to one or two basic bends for a shape. There is more freedom now, which is probably a good thing, allowing old-timers like me to find more vintage-looking bends and those new to Petes something akin to what they like from other makers.
Hello.. I am searching for help in regards to determining what era my K&P pipe is from. I don’t know much about them.. I have reached out to several companies who have told me it must be from before the pre patent era considering there is no COM.. and only has the engravings of K&P of Dublin. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Hi Amy, I’ll get in touch with you and see if we can figure it out.
In my humble opinion, the superior stain, and the tonal balance between stummel and stem, make the Irish Harp sandblast series more attractive than any of the PSB sandblasts. The supposed superiority in sandblast/grain of the PSB is obscured (rather than enhanced) by the black paint that covers it. The Iora contrast stain is really nice; I think that it’s the best way to treat a really exceptional blast. There is a lot of tonal variation in the Irish Harp sandblast stains, but most of them are decent and some are much better than decent. I’m glad that our limited-edition… Read more »
Rob, I’ll email you directly–you have my curiosity piqued!!
I have a couple of the original sandblasted Harps from the initial release, and I’ve noticed now with the newer ones being released that Peterson has dramatically changed the stain color from the original dark walnut color to a bright red color. Funny enough, the listings on SPC still refer to the stain as “dark walnut”. Any ideas as to why they may have made this switch? I think the original dark walnut was more sophisticated, though I can appreciate the new red stain as well. As a side note, I’ve also noticed that the Harp smooths have changed from… Read more »
Hi Jon! There’s a number of factors at work here. Since Laudisi bought the company, they’ve tried to regulate stain formulas and in doing so have made some changes, for sure. Next, anytime you read copy at SPC remember it’s just advertising. Same goes, far too often, with the “Measurements and Other Details.” Unless it’s an artisan one-off pipe, a few years ago they began doing one measurement for a whole batch of similar pipes, and when they get it wrong, it’s wrong all the way down. And of course, being briar, if they just measure once, the other 999… Read more »
Hi Mark! Thank you for such a fast and incredibly thorough response! I would be very interested to watch a video from Laudisi/Peterson about their stain practice and standardization. I love when they do behind-the-scenes tours and explanations on pipe release origins. I also noticed the measurements being off years ago. I’d started writing to ask for the weight of specific pipes (important to clenching) and was many times just recited the listing measurement and ensured they measure each one, and then I’d have to explain what you just explained. Thankfully, the current customer service folks—who are amazing!—are aware now… Read more »