Henry Starck was a flutemaker by trade, but was convinced to make bagpipes by Willie Ross in the late 1880′s. The firm operated until 1962.  Starck pipes have a few distinguishing traits, one being a deep combing and beading. They were well made with attention to detail.  One minor flaw was the use of extremely low quality nickel for the ferrules in the early 1900′s.

The following set belongs to Hamish McCardle of New Zealand. the stamps on it tell us the set was most likely made by Henry Starck Sr., and somewhere between 1891 and 1924.

Name stamped on the chanter

Name stamped on three tuning pins

A great shot of the combing and beading

Full set

Thanks to Devin D. Lamb of Lansing Michigan for the pictures of the full ivory set below.

Signature deep combing and beading

Detail of bass drone top

Deep combing and beading on the bass stock.

These next 3 pictures come to us from Ronan Maguire, St Laurence O’Toole PB, Ireland.

This set from 1901 is ebony and plain silver with button mounts

Pictures like these are a bonus for the Bagpipe ID'er!!

A great shot of the beefy bass drone top.

This next set belongs to Tyler Steinke of Grande Prairie, Alberta. Thanks to David McLean for the pictures. They are made from ebony and are likely pre 1900.

Signature Starck beading and squarish cord beads.

Good shot of the tenor drone tops