Comoy's Shape Numbers

Comoy's shape numbers are the numbers stamped on the shank of pipes made by the London firm Comoy's, indicating which mold the bowl was turned from. The shape lists held by the collecting community match each number to a bowl family, the bend of the stem, and the body size; the number alone, however, indicates neither the year of production nor the quality grade. The firm's general history is covered in the Comoy's of London article.

From Catalogue to Stamp

The firm's numbering of its molds goes back to the 1909 catalogue, in which each shape carried a name alongside its number. Stamping the number onto the pipe itself came later: compilations record the practice as settling in during the 1920s, with the earliest known stamped example dated 1925. An old Comoy's without a number therefore usually points to an early period rather than a mold absent from the list.

Numbers stayed limited to three digits for a long time; four-digit numbers only entered the list after the firm came under the Cadogan umbrella. Records place this transition in 1979, adding that four-digit numbers may have begun slightly earlier, around 1976-1978. The line collectors draw between "pre-Cadogan" and "post-Cadogan" is generally 1981, when Comoy's and GBD production merged into a single company. Cadogan Investments Limited, which lends the group its name, is a company registered in the UK trade register in 1928 and struck off in 2012. Numbering for the other arm under the same umbrella is covered in the GBD Shape Numbers article.