Sasieni Family Era (c.1950-79) Four Dot Natural Moorgate S Smooth Pot 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. This one is an example not only of a Four Dot grade, but a Four Dot Natural, which Sasieni itself marketed as the “aristocrat of the pipe world.” Rather than being stained, the very few stummels that were deemed flawless enough to become Naturals were finished merely with layered coatings of wax, before finally being buffed to achieve the line’s signature golden sheen.

This one is rendered in Sasieni’s shape “58” pot, also known as the “Moorgate,” after a famous gate of the old City of London. It’s a classic English pot design (seen here in its saddle stem variation, the “Moorgate S”), with a wide chamber perfectly suited for mixture cuts, while also being relatively compact and lightweight.

As for dating, the pipe looks to be a “family era” make, and more specifically a Sasieni from the “Alfred era” of 1950-79, back when Alfred Sasieni was at the company’s helm.

The condition is very good. Some minor inner rim darkening and slight finish fading.

Details: 

Length: 5.4″ / 137.1mm

Bowl Width: 0.92 / 23.36mm

Bowl Depth: 1.45″ / 36.83mm

Weight: 1.5oz / 44g