Astleys Block Meerschaum Smooth Billiard Estate Meerschaum Pipe, Unsmoked

Description

Astleys was one of London’s most historic pipe and tobacco shops. Like many pipe tobacconists, its owners had pipes made specially to be sold under the shop’s name. Astleys pipes, however, were made by some of the premier pipe manufacturers and artisans in the UK, such as Dunhill, Ashton, Charatan, Ferndown, and James Upshall. As a result, Astleys pipes are prized for their quality, and as examples of the very finest British pipes.

While Astleys was famous for its briar pipes, for a time the shop also sold meerschaum pipes. Of course, these were not carved by the aforementioned master English pipe makers, but by meerschaum carvers in both Vienna and Turkey. Which of the two this pipe came from is hard to definitively say, but that doesn’t stop it being a fascinating piece. In fact, while we’ve had scores of fantastic Astleys pipes come in over the years, this is only the second block meerschaum pipe from the venerable Jermyn Street tobacconist.

The pipe is also completely unsmoked and comes with its original fitted case.

Details:

Length: 6.2″ / 157.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.85 / 21.59mm

Bowl Depth: 1.57″ / 39.87mm

Weight: 1.6oz / 46g