Reuben Era Charatan’s Make Free Hand Relief Dublin Estate Briar Pipe, English Estates

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.

While Sixten Ivarsson and co. were pioneering freehand shapes in Denmark, across the North Sea, the expert British pipe-makers at Charatan were experimenting with freehand pipes of their own. As Ken Barnes tells it, Barry Jones (later of James Upshall) carved the first Charatan freehand-style pipe in 1958. When Reuben Charatan himself saw the pipes, he, per Barnes, “he immediately changed from his factory overalls into his suit” so that he could take them to Charatan’s London storefront. As can be seen with this one, English “freehands” were often a lot more conservative than Danish ones, especially toward the beginning. Like the early Danes, the Brits were more interested in using the technique to play with conventions in subtle ways. The “Relief” designation on this one is its sandblast, which shows a clear mastery of bringing out the briar’s ring grain. As for when this one was made, it would appear to have been one of the early Free Hand models made at Charatan, during the late Reuben era. This was when Reuben Charatan still owned and oversaw the company, with Lane Ltd being the sole US importer of the make (hence the Lane “L” stamp, but “DC” or “X” denoting the presence or absence of Lane’s proprietary Double Comfort stem). This pipe should have been made some time between 1958 and 1961.

The condition is good. Some wear to the rim and external finish fading.

Details:

Length: 6.4″ / 162.5mm

Bowl Width: 0.93 / 23.62mm

Bowl Depth: 1.52″ / 38.60mm

Weight: 1.9oz / 54g