By Al Jones

The Sasieni Shape 88, more commonly known by it’s town name in Four Dot nomenclature, is the “Ashford”. It is one of my favorite British pipe shapes. The Shape 88 is Sasieni’s version of the classic Author shape.

This pipe came via Ebay, where the seller had it listed as a Peterson 2nd. Indeed, “Who Made That Pipe” does list Plymouth as a Peterson 2nd line. To my knowledge, Peterson never made a true Author shape and when I asked for additional stamping detail, the seller said it had the “88” stamp as well the “Made in England” COM. The 88 is of course a Sasieni shape and when received, it matched up well with my other Ashfords. The button definitely looks Sasieni made. I’ve found Sasieni 2nd line stems are quite good. Is this a true Sasieni 2nd line or a pipe made by Sasieni for a shop called “Plymouth”. Google didn’t yield any info on such a shop, so it’s likely lost to time. In a few days, this one will travel with me in to Louisiana for Thanksgiving. I’ll leave it at my daughters home for our frequent visits with her family and my two grandchildren.

Below is the Sasieni Ashford/88 shape, from a 1951 catalog and pictures of the pipe as it was received.

The pipe had a mildly oxidized stem, but no dents or button issues. The bowl had a very mild cake and the briar had a few bruises and numerous factory fills and flaws.

I reamed the cake and soaked it with alcohol and sea salt. The bowl was in great shape. I used a bristle cleaner soaked in alcohol to clean the stem internal. Upon completion of the salt soak, I used a bristle brush dipped in alcohol to thoroughly clean the shank.

The stem was mounted and the oxidation was removed with 800, 1,500 and 2,000 grade wet sandpaper, followed by 8,000 and 12,000 grade micromesh. I buffed the stem with White Diamond rouge and Meguiars Plastic Polish.

The bowl was buffed with White Diamond and several coats of carnuba wax.

Below is the finished pipe, soon to resume it’s proper function in Louisiana.