Reuben Era Charatans Make Free Hand Relief, Estate Briar Pipe, English Estates [SOLD]

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.

According to Ken Barnes, Charatan’s ‘Free Hand’ pipes were born in 1958, when Barry Jones carved a set of hand-shaped pipe so impressive, that then-owner Reuben Charatan immediately changed from his overalls into his suit and took the pipes down to Charatan’s London storefront. Judging by the nomenclature and design (including the absence of a Lane-era (£) symbol and double-comfort stem), this looks to be one of the very first Free Hand Charatans, from somewhere between 1958-1961. And what a Free Hand it is! While the shape is not as adventurous as some of the later hand-shaped Charatans, is is nonetheless a beautiful specimen. It is unconventionally large (Free Hand in the English sense was originally simply a deviation from established shape charts, performed by hand-turning techniques), and masterfully sandblasted in the Relief finish. This blasting has unearthed the kind of deep, craggy, uniform ring grain that would be emulated by later makers, such as America’s J.T. Cooke and England’s Bill Ashton Taylor. In fact, if I didn’t know the pipe was a Charatan, I might actually have thought it was one of Bill’s 1980s Old Church pipes.

The condition is great, too. There’s some inner rim darkening, and perhaps the mildest of char on the very lip of the chamber, but for a Reuben Era Charatan like this one, I imagine collectors would let that slide.

 

Details:

Length: 6.8″ / 172.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.90 / 22.86mm

Bowl Depth: 1.8″ / 45.72mm

Weight: 2.1oz / 62g