Elwood (Ferndown) “OD 838” Spigot Bulldog Estate Briar Pipe, English Estates 9mm

Description

Les Wood and Dolly Wood both began their careers in pipes working for Dunhill, with Les working in the silver mounting department, and Dolly working in the finishing department. While at Dunhill, both learned the fundamentals of making pipes, and after marrying and leaving the company, the two began to create pipes of their own. This led to the creation of L&JS Briars and, ultimately, the “Ferndown” make. It didn’t take long for the Ferndown name to become associated with some of the best British handmade pipes around, but when Dan Pipe approached the Woods about importing their pipes to Germany, a problem arose. As Les told us (see the MBSD interview with him for more), Dan Pipe’s management thought that German speakers would not be able to pronounce “Ferndown,” so “Elwood” (as in “L. Wood”) was eventually settled on as a substitute.

In the interwar years, Dunhill debuted a shape that, despite not being too far from the norm, would nonetheless captivate the world of pipes until this very day: the “Quaint Shape” “O.” The O was a distinctly wide, squat bulldog, with more charm than the proverbial English gentleman. After the Second World War, Dunhill’s debuted a new series of “OD” shapes, among which was what could reasonably be called an extra large (Dunhill’s name for them was “Semi-Giants”) version of the Quaint O, the OD 838. Both the O and the OD 838 (usually found as an ODA 838) remain firm favorites of Dunhill collectors and English pipe enthusiasts in general, but they’ve also become favorites of classically-inclined pipe makers, specifically artisan pipe makers. While Dunhill themselves have long since retired the Quaint O and seldom produce the OD 838 anymore, artisans such as Canada’s Michael Parks and America’s JT Cooke and Jesse Jones, for example, have all taken up the distinctly “Dunhill” squat bulldog motif, each crafting renditions that could be argued are better than the pipes being emulated. Two other artisans have also crafted homages to the shapes in question—artisans who happened to work at the Dunhill factory while these shapes were still in production. These are, of course, Les Wood and Dolly Wood, who would go on to form L&JS Briars and the Ferndown make. Here we see Les and Dolly putting that insider knowledge, along with their superlative pipe making skills, to use, with the results being just as spectacular as one would expect.

The condition is good. Some rim darkening, a few small scratches and nicks around the beadlines of the bowl (see pictures), and a couple of slight dents in the silver.

 

Details:

Length: 6.8″ / 172.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.96 / 24.38mm

Bowl Depth: 1.16″ / 28.44mm

Weight: 2.3oz / 68g