English Estates: Barling Smooth Billiard (6109) (Post-Transition) Tobacco Pipe

One of the most historic pipe manufacturers and among today's most collected and celebrated brands, Barling helped define and pioneer classic English pipe design. A silversmith by trade, Benjamin Barling founded B. Barling & Sons in 1812, fitting ornate silver onto meerschaum pipes. Their work earned recognition in the Great Exhibition of 1851, and as briar became a more popular pipe medium throughout the later half of the 19th century, Barling's silverwork and branding was used on stummels turned in France. By 1906, the company had begun turning their own bowls in England.

Helmed by the Barling family, the eponymous brand grew to become a renowned and revered pipe manufacturer, acclaimed for their timeless style and comfortable mouthpieces, but in 1960, the family sold the company and initiated closures of their factories. Throughout the latter half of the 20th century, Barling pipes were produced by various other manufacturers, but the brand never reclaimed the reputation it had garnered during the supervision of the Barling family.

Many pipe smokers and collectors refer to Barling's history in terms of "eras": The Family Era, or Pre-Transition Era, is considered the marque's most illustrious, comprising pipes fashioned until roughly 1962 — when the company was sold and the Barling family no longer managed pipe production — while the Post-Transition Era covers all pipes manufactured after c. 1962.

Today, Barling pipes are managed and manufactured by Kopp Pipes, who revitalized the brand in 2020. Though distinct from Family-Era pipes, these modern Barling pieces stay true to the original brand's classic style and handsome silverwork, with a number of series and finishes honoring the Barling family's rich history.