Dunhill 1925 (Loring Collection) Shell Briar Magnum “LC” Estate Briar Pipe, English Estates

Description

To veteran pipe smokers, Dunhill needs no introduction. Beginning in 1907, Alfred Dunhill began selling Dunhill pipes at the tobacconist shop he owned on London’s Duke Street. Very quickly, these pipes gained the reputation of being the ‘Rolls-Royce’ of pipes due to how expertly crafted they were. Today, Dunhill is likely Britain’s most famous pipe manufacturer, and continues to produce some of the most treasured pipes a smoker can buy.

This particular Dunhill bears a very interesting provenance, which will be discussed momentarily. We will first, however, begin with some context.

Though Dunhill pipes have typically been on the smaller side—at least, in comparison to the countless makes that have emerged since Alfred Dunhill founded his company—there are a few notable exceptions that have been much larger, compared both to their contemporary rivals and indeed to most pipes today. Dunhill’s magnum-sized pipes are singularly notable among these atypical offerings, not only for their size, but for their role in kick-starting the “estate pipes” trade in the 1970s:
“a strange new hobby was developing, ‘used briar pipe collecting’, with Dunhill pipes the crown jewels of those pioneer American collections. Soon there were pipe shows, mail order lists, evenings on the telephone in ‘hot pursuit’ and even excursions to England to salvage previously smoked pipes from the dustbins. Hundreds, even thousands of dollars were paid for used, quickly renamed “Estate” Dunhills with premium prices being paid for the largest and oldest.”

This account from the late Dunhill historian John Loring—who was himself not immune to the allure of such “crown jewels”—has become even more true since it was written, in part due to expanded global trade networks, the rise of consumer internet use, and the emergence of e-commerce. And among Dunhill’s sought-after, older and extra large pipes, there is one shape that has emerged as the crown jewel of many a collection, and indeed a white whale for collections where it is absent: the LC. Having been conceived in the very early 20th century, manufactured sporadically, and having disappeared in the century’s later decades, the tall-bowled, swan-neck, LC bent billiard is perhaps the most iconic design in Dunhill’s history. Pipe smokers and pipe makers alike treat it with reverence, with the latter commonly using it to prove their worth, given how difficult it is to accurately reproduce. The steep angle of the stem and shank are a particular challenge, so much so that the LC never carried Dunhill’s patented inner tube, as it simply would not fit in the shape’s draft hole (instead, as can be seen here, as well as on other LC iterations, the shape featured a unique funneled tenon).

This one, dressed in Dunhill’s Shell Briar finish, has been remarkably preserved, with just a little rim darkening and some general finish fading. It should be noted, however, that the stamping on the bowl is all but effaced. Rich Esserman has suggested that this could have occurred from over-buffing during an in-house refurbishment by Dunhill, given that, per Esserman “the nomenclature mattered little to Dunhill after the pipe was sold. However, its veracity as a Dunhill and as a 1925 make was independently verified by the late John Loring, in whose personal collection it once resided. Loring’s own photograph of the pipe can be found in the Loring’s Dunhill Collection here:

https://pipedia.org/wiki/Loring%27s_Dunhill_Collection

With the original upload of the photograph found here:

https://pipedia.org/wiki/File:D25-LC-s-magnum.jpg

 

Loring’s ownership of the pipe has been additionally confirmed to us by Esserman. As for the veracity of the pipe, this is further testified by the original, Dunhill-branded, fitted “Ventage” case that accompanies it (which was once, by some misfortune, separated from the pipe, before being rediscovered by Esserman, who gifted the case back to a previous owner), the unique LC tenon it sports, the finishing of the stummel, and the size of the “White Spot” inlaid in its stem.

Please note that, due to the price of this item, payments will be subject to additional customer verification and a payment by wire transfer may be requested.

 

Details:

Length: 9.5″ / 241.3mm

Bowl Width: 0.97 / 24.63mm

Bowl Depth: 2.14″ / 54.35mm

Weight: 5.2oz / 150g