Charatan’s Make Special 4, Lane Era Smooth Freehand Estate Briar Pipe, English Estates [SOLD OUT]

Description

While Dunhill may be Britain’s most famous pipe brand, Charatan is not only older, but has the honor of being the first to have made its pipes entirely in-house. ‘Charatan’s Make’ referred to the fact that, at a time when other pipe companies were sourcing stummels and stems carved from other companies before assembling them in their factories and workshops, Charatan made every part of their pipes on the Charatan premises. So began a legacy of high-quality pipe-making under the Charatan name, one whose employees, at one time or another, included Joel Sasieni, and Ken Barnes and Barry Jones of James Upshall fame.

I’ve seen a fair few Charatan freehands, but I can’t help but keep coming back to look at this one. It’s from the Lane era of 1961 to 1976, widely considered to be Charatan’s best, and the way it’s been carved is testament to that period’s lofty status. What first seems to simply be a fancy bent billiard shows a masterful sculpting of briar upon closer inspection. The bowl has been made to look as though it sits on a ‘ledge’ of sorts, but the transition from bowl to ledge is so smooth that the stummel almost looks like it was made from soft clay, rather than solid wood. There are a couple of other ‘ledge’ transitions at the base of the bowl and halfway up the shank – both also masterfully worked into the overall design.

The pipe is also in excellent condition. The stem is jet black, aside from some minor oxidation around the logo, which we’ve taken care to preserve. There are one or two very minor tooth indentations, but nothing that will affect the integrity of the pipe. The bowl is free from handling marks and the rim is unblemished, aside from just a hair of darkening on the inner lip.

 

Details:

Length: 7″

Bowl Width: 23.0mm

Bowl Depth: 2″

Weight: 3.0oz / 86g