Lots going on with this pipe, but all of it pretty much good. Let’s start with the basics. If you choose to buy this pipe you will need, along with your payment, a notarized letter promising that you will only smoke superior latakia blends in it. That might seem stark, but I have dry puffed this Grp. 4 and as The Pipe Whisperer (true…it is self-styled. I can’t document the claim) I’m pretty sure this will be an amazing smoke with a true, English Latakia blend. It would be sinful, even unlawful, to waste briar this fine on bland Virginias.
As some of you might be interested in what the pipe has to say for itself, let me try. For certain it is a U.S. Patent. The “U.S. Pat…” is clearly visible. Most of the patent number digits are legible…especially the last 7, which are 43253/20, although you will need a good lens to see the 4. The underlined 0 after the D in England is clear, too, and that makes the pipe either a 1930 or a 1940 model. Although the looks of the bowl and shank could qualify as 1930, I think the stem button is too flat to be what the inimitable Dr. Tom Colwell called a ‘between the wars’ rounded button. Tom and I had conversations on this subject and the conversant Peter Rothenberg, somewhat of a student of Tom’s, might be able to chime in on this, too. So, I’m calling it a 1940, but I make a lot of mistakes, just like every other human that has walked the planet. The “A” is clearly stamped as is the Dunhill, with London directly under it. On the patent side of the shank, there are also the numbers 111 and next to that, closer to the bowl is the F/T indicating a fish-tail shaped button, which this pipe has. I am confident (but not positive) that this is an original stem.
The condition of the stem is, considering the pipe’s age, at least excellent. There is very minor tooth chatter on the bottom of the stem. Basically, nothing. The rim, as you can see, does show some minor wear…to be expected. The chamber is in great shape and what impresses me most, perhaps, is that with my dry puffing I detected none of that moldy taste that often accompanies pipes even much younger than this. So, it has been smoked, is geared up for more smokes and is not designed to be bought simply as a collectible, but rather as a pipe to be added to a righteous rotation.
6” long, bowl 1.75” tall. Weight: 1 1/8 oz., 32 grams.