Sasieni Family Era (c.1946-50) Four Dot Buckingham Smooth 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.

After a legal battle with Dunhill prevented Sasieni from using a one dot stem inlay, Joel Sasieni was forced to come up with a new way of marking the company’s most perfect pipes. So, Sasieni started using “Four Dot” inlays instead. Thus was born the Four Dot, which, funnily enough, came to rival even Dunhill’s “White Spot” as a signifier for high-grade, English-made pipes.
After the Second World War, the reins of the Sasieni company passed down to Joel’s son, Alfred, who continued to manufacture some of England’s finest traditional briars via the Four Dot range. Based on the nomenclature, this one will have been made during the first years of Alfred’s tenure, between approximately 1946 and 1950. The shape is Sasieni’s largest billiard rendition, if I recall correctly, the “Buckingham,” also known as the “55.” Though this one was made prior to the introduction of explicitly demarcated finishes within the Sasieni nomenclature, I’d imagine it would fall into what was later termed the Four Dot Natural, so-named because of its minimalist, light, waxed finish, emphasizing the briar’s inherent beauty. With bird’s-eye grain of the quality this one possesses, anything more would be unnecessary.

The condition is good. Some darkening and finish fading on the rim, slight handling marks, and very slightly faded nomenclature (though still perfectly legible).

Details: 

Length: 6.7″ / 170.1mm

Bowl Width: 0.89 / 22.60mm

Bowl Depth: 1.66″ / 42.16mm

Weight: 1.6oz / 46g