Sasieni 4 Dot Walnut Smooth Standing Billiard Estate Briar Pipe, English Estates

Description

Along with names like Barling, Charatan, and Dunhill Sasieni holds a special place in the history of English smoking pipes – one near to its very beginnings. So the story goes, Sasieni himself worked for Dunhill during its early days. But eventually he left Dunhill, having his own ideas about how pipes should be made, and founded Sasieni. This was 1919, and Sasieni has been the closest thing to a household name in English pipes ever since.

I’ve always found this Sasieni shape to be a rather peculiar one. It is essentially a bent billiard, but with the curious addition of a flat face perpendicular to the draft hole, allowing it to be a sitter shape—or, as I’ve noted before, perhaps “stander” is more fitting. I recommend a recent article by Harold Roth on Pipedia, “Sasieni Pipes and their Subsidiary Brands,” which discusses Sasieni history at length and sheds a good amount of light on its many shapes as well. This one, for example, was the shape 17 “Rutland,” though it wasn’t the first shape 17, a position previously occupied by the comparatively staid “Chiswick” Dublin. The Rutland was instead introduced around 1981, after the end of the “family era.” I’d be very keen to know what old Joel Sasieni made of it, though sadly he passed before designs such as this one were in vogue. I myself like it quite a lot, and I’m also keen to see if Lubinski revisits it sometime, now that they’re in charge of the Sasieni brand.

The condition is good. Some inner rim darkening, minor handling marks, and a few slight scuffs on the bowl.

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.81 / 20.57mm

Bowl Depth: 1.53″ / 38.86mm

Weight: 1.6oz / 46g