The Quaint 210 Partially Rusticated Bent Billiard Estate Briar Pipe, Italian Estates

Description

In pipe making, a “quaint” is an old English term used to denote shapes that are out of the ordinary and, usually, not in found in standard shape charts, or indeed in regular production. Both Barling and Dunhill used the term, for example, albeit with a slightly different approach to manufacturing “Quaint” pipes. It might seem counter-intuitive, then, that this partially rusticated, fluted, quarter-bent apple was made in Italy, and even more so, that it has what looks to be a shape code, “220.” This, however, is not as strange as first seems. Dunhill, of course, ultimately ended up standardizing many of their Quaint shapes, even if they were not as regularly produced as others in their catalogs. The Barling Quaint, on the other hand, was a pipe with good grain, aside from one or two sandpits, which were sheared off to create shapes with unique panels or fluting here and there. So, this pipe, from a maker that I sadly was not able to identify, does blend a little of both “quaint” approaches, producing something very distinctive (and not at all bad looking) in the prodcess.

The condition is great. Some minor, inner rim darkening.

Details:

Length: 5.6″ / 142.2mm

Bowl Width: 0.82 / 20.82mm

Bowl Depth: 1.40″ / 35.56mm

Weight: 1.6oz / 46g