A panel billiard where the panels do not stop at the shank. Bowl, shank, and even the vulcanite stem are cut and squared to match - a detail most paneled pipes drop once they reach the bit.

This is a straight, squared panel billiard in a dark sandblast finish, stamped ASHAT BRUYERE GARANTIE 01 on the shank, fitted with a tapered vulcanite stem and a fishtail bit. No filter is fitted.

The stamp is given here exactly as it reads on the pipe. "Bruyere garantie" translates from French as "guaranteed briar," stamped directly into the wood. The "01" is quoted as stamped, with no further designation asserted.

Panel shapes come from the same family as the round billiard - the same tall, roughly cylindrical chamber, the same straight lines through the profile - but the bowl is faceted into flat sides rather than turned to a smooth curve, typically four or six panels worked in after the basic shape is roughed out. Carrying those panels down through the shank is standard practice on a panel billiard. Carrying them into the stem is not: it means the vulcanite was ground flat and squared to match the shank's facets rather than left round or oval, which takes more hand-fitting to keep the lines running true from bowl to bit. Held in the hand, a squared stem like this gives the fingers a flat reference point the round stems do not, and on a rack the pipe reads as one continuous block rather than a bowl with a stem attached to it.

The stem is vulcanite, tapered rather than saddle-cut, ending in a fishtail bit: the mouthpiece flares and the slot splits toward the tip, widening the bite surface and keeping the airway open. There is no filter fitted; the draw runs as a straight, open bore from chamber to slot.

The finish is a dark sandblast. Sandblasting works the surface with abrasive under pressure, eroding the softer summer growth of the briar and leaving the harder grain lines standing proud in relief. It is a finish that rewards briar with pronounced grain and forgives surface flaws a smooth finish would expose. How this particular blast reads under light, and what grain sits beneath the dark stain, is best judged from the photographs.

Condition: pre-owned and smoked. The rim shows darkening from use. Where the stem meets the shank there is a slight step - not obvious at a glance, but felt as a small ridge when a fingertip is drawn across the joint. No cracks, fills, or repairs are noted.

THE MARKS
- Shank stamp: ASHAT BRUYERE GARANTIE 01 ("bruyere garantie" translates as "guaranteed briar"; "01" quoted as stamped)

THE MEASUREMENTS
Length 145mm (5.8") - bowl height 42mm (1.7") - bowl width 30mm (1.2") - chamber depth 35mm (1.4") - chamber diameter 20mm (0.8") - weight 1.2 oz

Ships from the Faridunhill / Pipe Collectors Encyclopedia archive. Worldwide shipping and professional sanitation on every estate pipe.
SKU: 057