1962 Dunhill Tanshell ODA (shape 848)

[georged]

In the late 1950's and early 1960's there was a Dunhill shop employee (or group of them) who thought that Planet Earth would be better off with more Tanshells, and labored tirelessly until he (they) dropped dead from exhaustion.
No other conclusion can be drawn by a BritWood collector who likes the finish, anyway.
Well, that's not exactly true, it could be that Sardinian briar was a bargain for some reason a few years earlier and Alfred just bought a shit-ton of it to save a buck, but I prefer the romance of the passionate employee hypothesis. :lol:
I'm just glad the Tanshell Explosion happened, whatever the explanation, because pipes like this one were part of it.
Dublins especially look good, imo, when blasted from Sardinian briar because its hardness preserves the angularity and sharp lines of a well-cut Dublin better than the softer varieties.
50.6 grams, 6.5" long
.

 

[huntertrw]

georged:
Thank-you for mentioning the Tanshell. Yours is certainly a beauty. In my collection is a 1958 model, shape 35, which has I have not smoked for some time; however, now that you have reminded me I will remedy that tomorrow.
According to the late John C. Loring in his book titled The Dunhill Briar Pipe - The Patent Years and After : "The TanShell (sic) was Dunhill's fourth finish and its first major post war line addition. Introduced in 1951/1952 the TanShell was a naturally stained sandblasted pipe made exclusively from Sardinian briar through the 1960s. The TanShell apparently was not simply a light stained Shell but rather was also the product of "certain processes [unrevealed] not previously employed." Initially, it appears that the pipe was to be named the Root Shell and a stamp to that effect was ordered and received by Dunhill in May 1951. Ultimately however, the name TanShell was settled upon but the stamp for the TanShell name was not received by Dunhill until the beginning of December. Thus while the TanShell was in production in 1951 it appears that most if not all TanShells made in that year did not enter into retail distribution until 1952 and were given a 1952 date code."
Note that there is a penciled annotation (one of many possibly made by Mr. Loring himself?) in my copy of the aforementioned book which indicates that Sardinian briar was used exclusively until 1966.

 

[ssjones]

I didn't know those details of the Tanshell briar, and I love that blast.

 

[huntertrw]

Regarding my post above, I didn't get around to smoking my neglected 1958 TanShell until today and I must say it delivered an outstanding smoke! It's a Group Three size, has a sterling silver (non AD) repair band, and handled a load of well-aged Granger beautifully. This pipe will definitely be rejoining my "favorites" rotation.