GBD Rockroot 9665 Rusticated Volcano Sitter 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.

The Rockroot was GBD’s dedicated line of what we today would call “wire rusticated” pipes, with distinctive, vertical lines hewn into the bowl. True to the name, this technique often resulted in an aesthetic that looked closer to geological formations than wood carvings (such as basalt columns for example). Funnily enough, and presumably as an unintended, yet happy, consequence, as time went on and the finish started to wear a little, the Rockroot looked even more like its stony namesake. This one is an example of one of of GBD’s many difficult to classify shapes, a somewhat volcano-like (again, apt) panel sitter hybrid, featuring yet another signature GBD design element—a translucent Perspex mouthpiece. Based on the nomenclature, it will be a pre-1980, pre-Cadogan Investments merger make.

The condition is fair. Some finish fading on the bowl and some inner rim charring.

Details:

Length: 5.8″ / 147.3mm

Bowl Width: 0.84 / 21.33mm

Bowl Depth: 1.68″ / 42.67mm

Weight: 1.6oz / 48g