Ferndown Root 1 Star Smooth Bent Billiard Estate Briar Pipe [SOLD]

Description

Ferndown pipes were made by the legendary British pipe-making husband and wife duo Leslie ‘Les’ John Wood and Dolly Wood. Both Les and Dolly previously worked for Dunhill, where Les developed his skills and reputation as Britain’s premier pipe silversmith, as well as one of its premier pipe carvers. Ferndown pipes are highly coveted by pipe-smokers due to their superlative craftsman(and woman!)ship, whose bowls are oil-cured and which typically feature beautiful silverwork. Sadly, Les and Dolly retired from pipe-making in 2019, making Ferndown pipes rather scarce – especially given how difficult it is to get their owners to part with them.

Ferndown pipes tend to be on the larger side. As Les told us, a lot of this has to do with the rusticated Bark finish making up the majority of Ferndown pipes, and the fact that the unique rusticating technique Les and Dolly used would simply not work for smaller stummels. While one is by no means a nosewarmer, it’s certainly lighter and more trim than most (in fact, it may well be a rare example of a Ferndown clencher). The pipe is an elegant, quarter-bent Dublin shape, dressed in the Ferndown ‘Root’ light smooth finish, with an engine-turned sterling silver band from the master silversmith himself.

The condition is very good. The rim has some minor darkening (concentrated around the inner lip) and finish fading, and the top of the chamber is slightly out of round from prior reaming. But the pipe’s finish is otherwise well preserved, as is its stamping and vulcanite stem.

 

Details:

Length: 5.5″ / 139.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.82 / 20.82mm

Bowl Depth: 1.64″ / 41.65mm

Weight: 1.4oz / 42g