Dunhill 1949 Shell Briar R Sandblasted Pot 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.

Debuting at the end of the 1920s, Dunhill’s “R” pot was one of its Quaint shapes, i.e., pipes not as regularly produced as standard shapes, being instead subject to how well suited a given briar block was. My favorite description comes from Pipedia, where one editor writes of such that “[o]ccasionally a piece of briar is just asking to be carved into a shape which is not in the standard list. The general term for such pipe shapes is ‘Quaint’.” Needless to say, shapes like the R were pricier than Dunhill’s standard shapes, costing 20-33% more than the latter, depending on the finish.

This particular “R” was made all the way back in 1949, not long after wartime restrictions began to ease. As tends to be the case with Dunhills from that period, specifically the Shell Briars, the sandblast finish on the bowl is extraordinarily gnarly, expressing the kind of deep relief that artisans have chased ever since.

The condition is fair. Some rim darkening, chamber slightly over-reamed, stem slightly over-buffed at the base, some fading of the nomenclature (though legible), and general fading of the finish.

Details:

Length: 5.8″ / 147.3mm

Bowl Width: 0.96 / 24.38mm

Bowl Depth: 1.42″ / 36.06mm

Weight: 1.1oz / 34g