1960 Dunhill Tanshell 120 4T Bent Billiard Estate Briar Pipe, 6mm, 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.

The “120” is one of Dunhill’s most iconic shapes, not least because its historical associations with another iconic Dunhill shape, the “LC.” Debuting in the early 1920s and being produced until around the mid-century, the 120 is a quintessential, traditional 3/4 bent billiard, with a long, slender appearance reminiscent of a swan neck. While the LC took this basic design and enlarged and exaggerated its features, the 120 tended to remain closer to the more slight proportions of Dunhill’s standard shapes, and by extension English pipes of the time more generally. With that said, this group 4 120 is still a little larger than other shapes within that grouping, with a taller and more generous chamber well suited to contemplative sipping. This pipe is a Tanshell rendition of the 120, made in 1960. It will thus have been made from oil cured Sardinian briar.

The condition is very good, with some light rim darkening and slight handling marks on the bowl. The pipe is chambered for 6mm filters as standard, which makes me think the draft hole of the tenon may have been expanded by the previous owner. I have priced it to reflect this presumed modification.

 

Details:

Length: 6.5″ / 165.1mm

Bowl Width: 0.82 / 20.82mm

Bowl Depth: 1.82″ / 46.22mm

Weight: 1.9oz / 56g