Sasieni Four Dot Sandblasted Freehand Estate Briar Pipe, English Estates

Description

Along with names like Barling, Charatan, and Dunhill 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.

This is a pipe you don’t see every day – a Sasieni freehand. As far as I understand, Sasieni first began making these pipes in the late 1970s (when the company was still in its family era of ownership), and made them after the make was bought out. Unlike the later freehands, this one has the typical, family era “Four Dot” nomenclature, so I’m inclined to think that it is from that period. In any case, it’s a remarkable piece, with ring grain sandblasting that would put Charatan to shame.

The condition is great. There is a patch of darkening on the bowl exterior, on the right side. I sanded the chamber down to see if I could find any indication of it originating there, but I didn’t find any indication of that being the case. It is most likely a handling mark, or a slight imperfection in the briar.

 

Details:

Length: 7.2″ / 182.8mm

Bowl Width: 0.92 / 23.36mm

Bowl Depth: 1.59″ / 40.38mm

Weight: 2.4oz / 70g