English Estates: Ashton Pebble Grain Cherrywood (LX) (1997) Tobacco Pipe

William Ashton-Taylor, the founder of the Ashton brand, began his pipe-making studies at a mere fifteen years of age as an assistant in Dunhill's workshop. He demonstrated great interest in and talent for the craft, which led him to move up through the ranks before he eventually left to start his own company. This Cherrywood from Ashton is rendered in the English marque's LX size. The shank, positioned perpendicularly almost halfway up the canted bowl, emerges from the transition at an angle so that the chaste bend of the acrylic stem terminates at around the same height as the rim. Pebble Grain sandblast reveals growth rings that surge ahead, contributing to the powerful forward momentum created by the bowl's angled stance atop a flat heel. A smooth finish at the rim reveals a tangle of birdseye whose smokey red swirls are complemented by the stummel's sepia hue.