An interesting postscript ---
In 50 years of PipeWorlding, I'd only seen two of this shape before this one. And within 48 hours of finishing work on it, another appeared sold on Chance Whitamore's site:
View attachment 320581
Why are they so rare?
Since Dunhill has always priced by group size and finish, they fill production in direct proportion to the difficulty of making a particular shape. Harder = fewer made. (Think CK)
The reason? The the simplest explanation would be because the profit margin is lower on the time-consuming stuff.
In this case, the gotcha would be the almost-twice-as wide-as-it-is-tall oval shank. After frazing there is still a lot of hand work required for the stummel, and the stem is a proper pig to get right. (And it
must be right, or the entire look is spoiled. Flow is everything.)
In short, both the shop carvers and the cost accountants hate 'em.
Which makes owning one that much more fun, of course.