Irish Estates: Peterson Sherlock Holmes Rusticated Original (P-Lip) (2019) Tobacco Pipe

The first pipe released in Peterson's commemorative Sherlock Holmes collection, the Original pays tribute to the famed work of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Fittingly, the Irish marque chose their signature "05" Bell/Calabash shape, increasing the proportions for an even bolder, more striking example of Peterson's iconic muscular aesthetic. In Doyle's stories and the several illustrations therein, Holmes is almost always depicted smoking a straight pipe, yet the Calabash design is associated with the character above all others thanks to William Gillette. Gillette portrayed Sherlock in a number of plays throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but found that a straight pipe hindered his ability to deliver lines clearly, the pipe always jostling up and down. Switching to a bent pipe, then, Gillette both solved this problem and defined the style of pipe Holmes' portrayers would smoke for years to come. Peterson's Original celebrates that tradition with its curvaceous, sweeping form full of heartiness and packed with a deep chamber.

Peterson introduced the Sherlock Holmes series in 1987 with a one-off design commemorating the 100th anniversary of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's A Study in Scarlet. Two years later, the Irish marque decided to add a new shape every six months, forming what would eventually become the 18-pipe Sherlock Holmes collection. Each pipe in the collection also showcases Peterson's exemplary silverwork — the firm being renowned for its application of sterling silver, with the Sallynoggin factory's smiths having completed a years-long mentorship stewarded by Peterson's senior craftsmen. The Sherlock Holmes line boasts broad accent bands of the regal metal, etched with the collection's logo, contrasted here against a craggy, dark chocolate-stained rustication.