Charatan’s Make Lane Era D22DC Sandblasted Rhodesian 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 (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).

Not unlike Dunhill and the Tanshell, Charatan’s midcentury approach to sandblasted finishes involved a deep, craggy texturing of the bowl, coupled with a rather light top-coat. One advantage of this was it made the briar’s grain patterns stand out even further; another was the lightness that the finishing process as a whole gave to such pipes. And another was that, as the time went by and the pipe was enjoyed more and more, it would develop a warm, golden brown patina. This group 3 Rhodesian, for example, looks to have served its previous owner remarkably well, now showing off caramel tones that one would expect more from a meerschaum pipe. As for dating, this one will have been made during the Lane era at some point, so circa 1961-76.

The condition is fair. Some charring and wear to the rim and some slight nicks to the bowl’s bead-lines.

Details:

Length: 5.5″ / 139.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.85 / 21.59mm

Bowl Depth: 1.40″ / 35.56mm

Weight: 1.6oz / 46g