Charatan’s Make Supreme Lane Era 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.

The Supreme grade was one of the highest accorded to Charatan’s freehand pipes. Looking at this one, it’s not difficult to see how it achieved such a qualification. It is a large pipe, as freehands from Charatan’s celebrated Lane era (1961-76) tended to be, with tight, “angel hair” straight grain surrounding its bowl, and bird’s-eye patterns covering its rim and shank. It also features one of my personal favorite shaping combinations from Charatan, juxtaposing the pipe’s round, Dublin bowl with a faceted Canadian-style diamond shank and stem.

The condition is fair. There’s some inner rim darkening, the shank end has a small crack that has been professionally repaired with sterling silver, and I cannot be sure that the stem is not a replacement. The stamping is also a little faint. It’s still a gorgeous pipe, but I’ve factored these things into the price, so this should be the most affordable Supreme-grade Charatan that buyers will have the opportunity to purchase.

 

Details:

Length: 6.4″ / 162.5mm

Bowl Width: 0.96 / 24.38mm

Bowl Depth: 1.83″ / 46.48mm

Weight: 1.6oz / 48g