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This morning a genuine “note”—which for me (I know!) is going to be closer to a short story than my usual weekly novel. I had thought to bring you news and ordering information for the 2025 CPG Pipe of the Year, but that has been very slightly delayed and should make its appearance on the blog next week.  In the meantime, this note about one of the most obscure and seldom-seen System iterations (and one of my favorites), the Sculptured, suggested to me by my good friend Clint Stacey CPG, who helped me from across the pond obtain a unicorn 309 Sculptured not so long ago.

309 Sculptured System

In working on the Identification Guide for the The Story of Kapp & Peterson, one of my fondest memories was researching the various System lines that have appeared over the years. If you haven’t used the guide of late, those iterations include (aside from the classic Standard, Premier, and De Luxe) the clay (Patent through Early Republic w/System engineering); the Special (Late Republic, usually w/nickel mount); the Dunmore Premier Unmounted (c. 1971-84); the STAR sterling mount (1975 ff.), between the De Luxe and Premier with a distinctive red and black contrast stain); the Connemara Rustic Premier with its beautiful Pebble rustication (1987-98); the Cara (2005 ff.), European, Premier-grade but with nickel mount); Spigot System (picking stock w/double-bead sterling band, 2016 IPCPR trade show); Spigot System (2018, sterling mount, no condenser); St. Patrick’s Day System (2018, nickel); Halloween (2021, nickel mount); and Jekyll & Hyde (2023). All this not to mention some of the great finishes seen more recently in the Laudisi era—Barley, Rusticated, what else?–I’m forgetting some, I know.

Perusing the list, you’ll notice I’ve italicized some of them. These are only ones that had an official shank stamp name.  Many, like this morning’s Sculptured, have not. (And oh, there’s another one coming, but I won’t say anything about it…)

A 314 Aboriginal Meer, HM 1972 (Courtesy Smokingpipes.com)

The idea for the Sculptured System briar came from its elder meerschaum sibling, the “Aboriginal,” which lacked a shank stamp, but was always marked as such on the meerschaum box.  The earliest ephemera reference I have to the Aboriginal is in the 1973 Associated Imports Confidential Price List:

Notice these pipes were made by “Peterson Isle of Man”:

The Aboriginal was crafted in both System and Classic Ranges, as many Pete Geeks who frequent eBay and Etsy know. This detail from the 1978-79 Peterson-Glass catalog is interesting not only for show both ranges, but showing the Freestyle (FS) meer and the 307 meer with its extra-long stem, the longest stem I’ve seen on the 307 and which was used from at least 1975:

(The total length of 307 + this stem is 7 inches!)

 I don’t have any official documentation that Peterson Isle of Man turned the Sculptured System but always thought they did. There’s no proof, it just seems that it might have been easier to do it in one place rather than two. (Then again, meer is soft when it’s cut, isn’t it? You tell me—what’s your opinion?)

Clint Stacey wonders why the meer was called the Aboriginal, since we typically use that word in association with the indigenous peoples of Australia and the meer is advertised in the ephemera as being sourced from Africa.  Another mystery of the Kappverse.

The 301 Sculptured in the 1978-79 Peterson-Glass Catalog

As for the Sculptured System, the only documentation I’ve ever found for the name comes from the 1978-79 Peterson-Glass Catalog, which shows it in the 301 Comfort P-Lip as part of the Standard System lineup—meaning the Sculptured was available, or meant to be available—in all the Standard System shapes.

312 Sculptured

For many years I saw the Sculptured in a 312–quite a few.  My first 312 had a few rusticated “patches” (like the rustication used on the Kildare Patch line of the early 1970s), but I traded it off when I found the 312 Sculptured seen above—which is entirely smooth.

That we know it probably was available in most or all the Standard system shapes has been something I’ve only recently become convinced of, in large part due to my correspondence with other CPGs. Mike Austin, in particular, sent me photos of three of his Sculptured Petes: a 106 Classic Range and a 313 and 314 System:

106 Sculptured (courtesy Mike Austin)

313 Sculptured (courtesy Mike Austin)

314 Sculptured (courtesy Mike Austin)

At the Vegas Pipe Show a few years back, I saw the famous comic book inker and tobacco reviewer Jim Amash (known on the forums as Jim Inks) walking around with a 309 Sculptured.  While I could never convince him to sell me the pipe (!), he did send me a photo:

We know the Aboriginal meer continued at least until 1982, which is the last evidence I have of it in my ephemera, although a Peterson meer collector may have evidence via a HM of a later date:

The back cover of the 1982 Peterson wall calendar

As for the Sculptured System, there is no further mention after the 1978-79 catalog and no certain way of documenting it unless a correctly-marked pipe box with an invoice is someday shared publicly. Until then, it’s probably safe to say the Sculptured appeared around 1977 and was gone by 1982.

The 312 Sculptured with a vintage P-Lip horn stem given to me by Joe Kenny
at the Sallynoggin factory in 2013. 

Thanks to Mike Austin CPG
for sharing his Sculptured System photos

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