1949 Dunhill Root Briar (shape LB)

This LB is uncommon because it has a fishtail stem. A style of stem that can't be put on a thick & chunky pipe like an LB without finessing things by narrowing the stem before the flare, like a corset, to keep the button from ending up an inch wide.
All of the "wasp waisted" LBs I've seen were made around 1950, which makes me think that someone was working in Dunhill's shop at the time who favored it for some reason.
Besides its uncommon stem, this one also has dramatic "3D wood" where the grain looks like underwater formations when viewed in sunlight.
The stamping is weak (though it looks much better in hand) which normally I don't care for, but the stem shape and 3D wood were enough to carry the day when I came across it in the early 1990's.
61.5 grams, 6.0" long
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The evolution of the Dunhill fishtail is pretty interesting. I had a '61 Tanshell that had already moved into what I call the "devil horns" type, which I've seen through the 1960s. Weird thing is, I have others from the 1960s that are not as extreme. Are there any in-depth studies on this? It'd be neat to read.

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It's exactly the sort of thing that John Loring used to dig into. His love of Dunhill pipe knowledge was boundless.
Sadly, he was struck down without warning eight years ago:
http://pipesmagazine.com/blog/pipe-news/john-c-loring-legend-in-the-pipe-collecting-world-dies/
I don't know if anyone has dug into the details as deeply as he did since.
Love the "Devil Horns" image. :lol: Some of them are indeed pretty extreme. I'd guess it's a case of a worker in the Dunhill shop who was allowed to push the boundaries a bit (repetitive work + human nature = self-made-entertainments) and management/QA figured they could kill two birds with one stone if their indulgence resulted in positive customer feedback.
Either it didn't or the worker(s) moved on, though, because the style disappeared after a while.