1952 Dunhill Bruyere LB Smooth Billiard Estate Briar Pipe, English Estates

Description

To veteran pipe smokers, Dunhill needs no introduction. Beginning in 1907, Alfred Dunhill began selling Dunhill pipes at the tobacconist shop he owned on London’s Duke Street. Very quickly, these pipes gained the reputation of being the ‘Rolls-Royce’ of pipes due to how expertly crafted they were. Today, Dunhill is likely Britain’s most famous pipe manufacturer, and continues to produce some of the most treasured pipes a smoker can buy.

As with most things Dunill, the historian John Loring is the best source for understanding the make’s LB shapes. For those who are really interested, I would recommend his “Dunhill Large Billiard Variations” article as reproduced on Pipedia, but for everyone else, I will simply provide as brief a summary as I can. The “LB,” or “Large Billiard,” was a highly significant shape in Dunhill’s catalog for most of the 20th century, before it was formally discontinued with the advent of the 1975 shape numbering system. It was introduced in the interwar years and soon acquired a dedicated following among pipe smokers. From its slightly round, canted bowl to its generally muscular figure, the design became iconic not only for smokers, but for pipe-makers too, with notable contemporary admirers in the artisan community, such as J.T. Cooke and Michael Parks (I recommend having a look at these examples if you get the chance, as they’re magnificent tributes, but so are those of many others). This particular, patent era LB, from 1952, shows off the shape’s distinct figure remarkably well, and is dressed in the iconic, mid-century, ruby-red Bruyere stain that Dunhill has long since retired.

-J.M.

 

The condition is very good. Chamber is a little over-reamed, minor handling marks, and stamping that is faint, but readable.

 

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.92 / 23.36mm

Bowl Depth: 1.57″ / 39.87mm

Weight: 1.6oz / 48g