Dunhill: Cumberland (5217) (2023) Tobacco Pipe

Saddle-stemmed versions of Dunhill's "17" Bulldog rendition are less common than the tapered stem variety. It changes the overall demeanor of the design considerably, the negative space and diminution of the saddle stem adding more prominence and stocky muscularity to this particular Group 5 example. The "17" is Dunhill's more squat and broad Bulldog, compared to the taller "04," and that difference is well personified by this piece, dressed in the rustic sandblast of the Cumberland line.

When Alfred Dunhill released his patented Shell Briar, he forever changed the pipe-smoking world at large. Dunhill has often been credited with being the first to offer sandblasted pipes (arguably the most popular finish today), and the Cumberland finish further displayed Dunhill's innovative spirit. Well received after its release in 1979, the Cumberland series was named for the English marque's warehouse on Cumberland road, and the line's signature, brindled vulcanite stem became so iconic, the warmly striated material is now referred to simply as "cumberland."