Sasieni (Family Era; c.1950-79) Four Dot Walnut “Grosvenor” S Smooth Bulldog (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 protracted legal battle with Dunhill over the use of dotted stem inlays, Joel Sasieni began using light-blue dots—in contrast to Dunhill’s single white spot—to indicate the quality of his pipes. This remained constant for the entirety of the pre-transition, family era of Sasieni’s ownership, to which this Oom Paul S belongs. The Four Dot pipes were Sasieni’s highest-grade output at the time of this one’s production, underneath which were Two Dots, and then the sub-brand pipes, such as the Fantail or the Old England.

This one takes the form of the saddle variant of Sasieni’s traditional bent bulldog rendition, the Grosvenor, and, judging by the nomenclature, it will be a “family era” pipe, having been made between 1950 and 1979, when Sasieni was owned and operated by Alfred Sasieni, Joel’s son.

The condition is good. Minor inner rim darkening and some slight scratches on the bowl.

Details:

Length: 5.9″ / 149.8mm

Bowl Width: 0.76 / 19.30mm

Bowl Depth: 1.34″ / 34.03mm

Weight: 1.3oz / 38g