English Estates: Ferndown Bark Antique Billiard with Silver (**) Tobacco Pipe

Les Wood, the founder of Ferndown, worked for Dunhill for nearly 20 years, last holding the position of master Silversmith before parting ways with the legendary marque and setting off to make pipes on his own. Founded in the early 1980s, Ferndown pipes quickly garnered a reputation for excellent work and high-quality smoking properties, often with shapes that are stylishly different from many other Anglo-French pieces. His years as a master silversmith are quite evident in his work, with a great many of his pipes featuring finely detailed fitments made from the elegant metal. After nearly six decades in the pipe making industry, Wood retired from full-time work in 2019, though still occasionally makes pieces when the mood strikes him, making his pipes quite desirable. This Billiard is a fine example of Wood's work, placing a pert bowl atop a rounded heel at the fore of a thick, round shank adorned with a silver band at its junction to a sleekly tapering cumberland stem. Dressed in the Bark rustication, the stummel offers a wealth of crisp texture for the fingers to explore, its ruddy stain richly contrasted by the silver band.