Charatan’s Make 489DC Partially Sandblasted Bent Pot Estate Briar Pipe, English Estates

Description

While Dunhill may be Britain’s most famous pipe brand, Charatan is not only older, but has the honor of being the first to have made its pipes entirely in-house. ‘”Charatan’s Make” referred to the fact that, at a time when other pipe companies were sourcing stummels and stems carved from other companies before assembling them in their factories and workshops, Charatan made every part of their pipes on the Charatan premises. So began a legacy of high-quality pipe-making under the Charatan name, one whose employees, at one time or another, included Joel Sasieni (who went on to work at Dunhill, before leaving again to start the Sasieni make), Dennis Marshall (previously of Barling, later of Milville), Dan Tennison, Stan Haney (later of Ashby Hall), and Ken Barnes and Barry Jones (later of James Upshall).

The Reuben era of Charatan pipe, i.e., the period during Reuben Charatan’s ownership and operation of F. Charatan & Son, was famous for its Dublins, which was the favorite shape of the man himself. After Reuben passed and Herman Lane took over, Charatan remained famous for its Dublin shapes, but the make’s output also began to feature a significant number of paneled and faceted designs. In addition to its house foursquare, the 852, there was the 101 “Diamond Billiard,” the 89 “Bent Pot,” as well as innumerable freehand pipes incorporating such motifs. Based on the nomenclature, this one appears to be from the post-Lane period, likely during the make’s first years under the ownership of Alfred Dunhill Ltd. (1977-87). As is quite clear, it’s an especially craggy instance of the aforementioned diamond shank “Bent Pot,” in a goldilocks group 4 size.

The condition is good. Some slight inner rim charring and minor finish fading.

Details:

Length: 5.9″ / 149.8mm

Bowl Width: 0.91 / 23.11mm

Bowl Depth: 1.54″ / 39.11mm

Weight: 1.5oz / 44g