Dunhill 1924 Shell 120 /9 Bent 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.

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. Nevertheless, the 120 was, generally, still larger than most other, similar Dunhill shapes during its tenure.
There are a couple of things that make this particular 120 quite special, though. For one, Dunhill’s 120 and LC shapes, being among the more difficult shapes to get right, tend to vary in the success of their execution. Yet this one exhibits some of the best shaping I’ve ever seen for a 120. Perhaps most notable, however, is that this is also a very early Dunhill, having been made only a few short years after the Shell Briar finish was developed. Such pipes are renowned for their superlative cragginess, and this one is no different, exhibiting a texture that could almost pass for manual rustication.

For a pipe that is over a century old, the condition is quite remarkable. It does, however, show understandable signs of rim darkening and handling marks, and an unevenness on the rim that may be due to the sandblasting, or may be due to wear.
As the stamping on Dunhills from this era is quite fine, I shall provide a transcript:
120/9 DUNHILL’S SHELL MADE IN ENGLAND
PAT. Nos. 1130806/15&1341418/20 4

 

Details:

Length: 6.4″ / 162.5mm

Bowl Width: 0.84 / 21.33mm

Bowl Depth: 1.82″ / 46.22mm

Weight: 1.4oz / 42g