Sasieni (Family Era; c.1950-79) Four Dot Natural “Richmond” Smooth Bent Pot (Estate)

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 rare “Richmond” rendition comes from the “Alfred era” of Sasieni pipes, i.e., the years between 1950 and 1979, during which Joel Sasieni’s son, Alfred Sasieni, owned and oversaw the Sasieni company. Alfred continued Joel’s practice of using British landmarks and iconography for shape names during this time, while adding a few contributions of his own, such as the division of the Four Dot series into a wider range of explicitly demarcated finishes. The “Natural,” seen here, was among the highest grades in Alfred’s renewed Four Dot series, marketed as the “aristocrat of the pipe world.” As the name suggests, rather than being stained or dyed, 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.

The condition is good. Some inner rim darkening, finish fading, slight handling marks, and faded (though mostly legible) nomenclature.

Details:

Length: 5.9″ / 149.8mm

Bowl Width: 0.88 / 22.35mm

Bowl Depth: 1.20″ / 30.4mm

Weight: 1.2oz / 36g