This is the second pipe I’ve tackled from my recent auction lot. It is a Dunhill Shell Briar which met a horrible, Anne Boleyn-esque fate – off with its head! I’m guessing most of the auction lot came from the same estate, as no less than four of the 17 pipes had similar injuries. Was the previous owner fond of knocking the dottle out against a wall a bit too fiercely? Or perhaps these pipes were the victims of a not so subtle campaign to “encourage” someone to quit the pipe altogether? We’ll never know for sure.

What I do know it that the bowl had broken off the shank and had been poorly repaired. The glue joints were uneven, and the pieces of the stummel were out of alignment with each other, leaving the pipe misshapen and awkward looking, like a broken arm that has been incorrectly set and allowed to…