Sasieni Mayfair 11 Smooth Billiard Estate Briar Pipe, English Estates

Description

Along with names like Barling, Charatan, and Dunhill Sasieni holds a special place in the history of English smoking pipes – one near to its very beginnings. So the story goes, Sasieni himself worked for Dunhill during its early days. But eventually he left Dunhill, having his own ideas about how pipes should be made, and founded Sasieni. This was 1919, and Sasieni has been the closest thing to a household name in English pipes ever since.

Sasieni had notoriously high standards for their pipes, meaning that if a pipe wasn’t quite perfect enough to become a Four Dot, it would be released under one of the company’s various sub-brands. Mayfair was one of these sub-brands, though Sasieni made sure to keep their own name on these pipes as well. In their own words, Sasieni’s Mayfairs were “handsome pipes… remarkable for their good looks and sweet smoking qualities”, that were, nonetheless, “Excellent value for the smoker seeking a medium priced pipe.” This one is a very lightweight, group 3-4 billiard (what Sasieni dubbed a “Cromer”), and is indeed true to its description. This one looks to be a mid-century, family era, production, as during that time, Mayfairs were only available in a smooth, “Tawny Natural” finish.

The condition is very good. Some darkening and mild charring on the inner rim, but nothing major.

 

Details:

Length: 5.6″ / 142.2mm

Bowl Width: 0.75 / 19.05mm

Bowl Depth: 1.40″ / 35.56mm

Weight: 0.9oz / 26g