GBD Facet Smooth Bent Panel Dublin Estate Briar Pipe, English Estates

Description

GBD was one of several prominent examples of a French pipe brand that, due to certain circumstances, became a maker most associated with classic ‘British’ pipes. Founded in 1850 by the French trio Ganneval, Bondier & Donninger, the brand was bought by English company Oppenheimer at the beginning of the 20th century, who opened factories in London and Paris to meet an increasing demand for the make’s high-quality and highly desirable pipes. Partly owing to the make’s inventive, yet traditional shapes, and partly due to the high standards of their production, GBD pipes are particularly coveted by collectors, as well as those who simply appreciate classic, well-made smoking instruments.

Pipes can have all sorts of names, especially when it comes to the various lines of pipes a company or individual produces. Some are puns and playful turns of phrase that gesture toward the design of the line or its inspiration, and others simply conjure images of high status and quality. Other times, the name gets straight to the point. GBD’s Facet was, quite simply, a line of pipes with faceted bowls, creating nicely modern twists on classic shapes. This Dublin, for example, employs an octagonal motif not unlike that of the foursquare, but rotated 45 degrees to give it a diamond-like bowl structure. It’s a nice pipe and, given that the nomenclature and brass “GBD” stem inlay point to it being made prior to the 1980s and the Cadogan Investments merger of that decade, I imagine collectors will find it doubly so.

The condition is great. Minor finish fading and slight handling marks.

 

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.83 / 21.08mm

Bowl Depth: 1.82″ / 46.22mm

Weight: 1.9oz / 56g