English Estates: Sasieni Mayfair Billiard (11) (1946-1979) Tobacco Pipe

A neat, sleek Billiard with a graceful silhouette, this Sasieni "11" is a vintage piece, coming to us from between 1946 and 1979, and it boasts a capacious chamber housed within a plump bowl. The transition here has been very lightly cheeked, enhancing the softness of the bowl's supple rounding, and it gives way to a remarkably sleek shank and stem combination set quite low on the bowl. The stem is a neat taper of black vulcanite that further slenderizes the aft side combination, and it nicely complements the warm stain of the stummel to keep the look of the pipe timeless.

Founded in 1919 by Joel Sasieni, the early days of the Sasieni pipe company are shrouded in mystery, its founder having apprenticed at Charatan and worked at Dunhill, rising through the ranks to become the factory manager. The first Sasieni factory burned down almost as soon as it was erected, but Joel rebuilt and began production, the high-quality pipes coming out of the marque finding a rapidly growing audience. Sasieni's growth was rapid over the coming years, though the onset of World War II brought supply chain challenges, and in 1946, Joel Sasieni died. Joel's son Alfred ran the company from that point and stayed true to Sasieni's principles of high-quality shaping and engineering, before selling the brand in 1979.