Charatan’s Make First Lane Era (1961-5) Supreme Extra Large Smooth Bent Billiard Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

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 (later of Dunhill, then Sasieni fame), Stan Haney (later of Ashby Hall), Dennis Marshall (later of Milville), and Ken Barnes and Barry Jones (later of James Upshall).

Charatan’s Supreme grade was introduced during the make’s Reuben era, i.e., the years between approximately 1910 and 1960, when Reuben Charatan owned and operated F. Charatan & Son. Supremes were, per midcentury catalogs, “first quality, perfectly grained specimens” as far was pipes went, to the point where (again, per Charatan), “Nothing finer can possibly be obtained.” The Supreme was the highest-grade a Charatan pipe could receive, and Reuben Charatan was so protective of these pipes that, until around the mid-1950s, he assigned himself the sole responsibility of turning bowls for them.

In the mid-1950s, Reuben loosened the restrictions somewhat as to who was allowed to turn Charatan’s finest straight grain pipes, the Supreme included, though not because his standards had dropped—quite the opposite, in fact. The later 1950s were a time when Charatan’s popularity exploded, due in no small part to Herman Lane becoming the make’s US distributor, and Lane’s approach to marketing did not shy from raising expectations. The later 1950s were also a time when F. Charatan & Son first discovered the advantages of “freehand” briar carving and, simultaneously, that Reuben’s apprentices (such as a young Barry Jones) had the potential to match their master’s art.

As the Lane years went by, Charatan’s grading system expanded considerably, though the Supreme remained within the upper end of the make’s output. This is a rather stunning example of such a pipe, and an oversized example, too, having been designated as an Extra Large. Based on the Double Comfort mouthpiece and “MADE BY HAND” nomenclature (without mention of City of London), it will have been made during approximately 1961 (when Reuben Charatan passed and Herman Lane purchased F. Charatan & Son) and 1965 (when Lane Ltd. began stamping Charatan pipes with a reference to the City of London, where they were crafted). The design is a relatively traditional one, not unlike the “bents” that were made during the Reuben era, and indeed the consistency of the straight grain around the stummel matches that of Reuben’s time. Where the pipe quite strikingly departs from tradition is around the bowl’s base, which has been carved with a series of geometric folds more reminiscent of layered fabric than solid wood. Over the years, Charatan’s carvers explored a number of unusual approaches to a bowl’s lower section, from the “cup and saucer” that inaugurated the company’s freehand workshop, to the maritime “keel,” and even Danish-style “walrus feet.” I’m not sure I’ve seen anything quite as ornate as this before, however.

This pipe is completely unsmoked.

Details:

Length: 7″ / 177.8mm

Bowl Width: 0.80 / 20.32mm

Bowl Depth: 1.75″ / 44.45mm

Weight: 2.5oz / 72g