not sure about your policy concerning links in messages, i’ll give it a try anyway:
i’m a flemish piper, so not very familiar with the scottisch tradition, but might this be an early 1900 Henderson? With ivory parts?
i know genuine henderson drones in this condition are worth a LOT more than €800, but did i miss out on a bargain or not?
thanks anyway,
b.
http://cgi.benl.ebay.be/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=150302525140
The brightness level in the photo makes it hard to tell if the ivory is real or not. The pipes don’t look Pakistani.
They do look Henderson-esque but I’m no expert. Ringo Bowen’s the man to contact.
Either way they are in need of serious care.
its hard to tell for sure if they are Hendersons. They certainly look like Ivory and very possibly Hendersons. I will stick my neck out here and say that looking at the age and colouring of the pipes im 90% sure they have ivory mounts. Just because they are Hendersons does not mean they are top quality but certainly gives them a great chance of being excellent. I believe Henderson mass produced for the army and by looking at the picture here its quite possible the pipes have a crack or two. Its also known that Henderson did silver all his best sets of pipes.
Having said all that- if it can be veryfied that these are indeed Hendersons (or even Lawrie or another quality maker from around 1910- 1960)and are not full of cracks- 806euro is an absolute bargain. would have bought them myself for sure
Buying vintage pipes on Ebay is a risky proposition.
There’s a fellow on these boards who has bought and sold a large number of vintage pipes over the last few years.
He has about as good an eye for old genuine pipes as somebody can have, but even he has been burned.
One set was a nice old Scottish-made set to all appearances. It had none of the hallmarks of a Pakistani set. Yet when he bought it, it turned out to be Pakistani indeed.
But the rewards can be great: another fellow bought a very odd-looking set on Ebay. Other potential buyers were scared off by the strange-looking projecting mounts. This fellow thought that the set might be genuine and took the risk. I think he paid around $150.
Well, when he got the set he discovered that it was a fine old Henderson set with blackwood projecting mounts that somebody had painted white!
The genuine ivory ringcaps had also been painted over. This is what made the pipes look so odd in the Ebay photos.
This is one of the finest-sounding Hendersons around.
But anyhow about the pipes in this Ebay listing, they could be anything. They could be a nice old Scottish set, they could be Pakistani. I have examined hundreds of Scottish-made and Pakistani-made pipes, including Pakistani pipes made of blackwood with real ivory mounts (yes they do exist!)
But this particular set is too close to call. They certainly don’t look Henderson to me.