England, 1950-70s
One of the most famous English tobacco shops, Bewlay & Co. Ltd, was founded in 1870 at 49 W. Strand in London by the Jewish Elkan family, who immigrated from the Netherlands. At the initial stage, the business was positioned as retail trade in tobacco products; Bewley was one of the first to sell cigars. Of course, in the early 20th century, briar pipes became very popular, and Bewlay’s offered a range of Barling, Charatan’s, Loewe, Sasieni, and Orlik models. Bewlay’s was one of the first companies to export pipes to the United States. Some fans claim that Bewlay’s was the start of Joel Sasieni (Sassieni’s family were also Jewish immigrants, lived in the same area, and appear to have attended the same synagogue). In 1937, the family business was sold to Salmon & Gluckstein, which was already controlled by Imperial Tobacco. The chain of stores closed in the 1980s.
Today, we present the traditional English bulldog from Bewley. It’s not easy to tell which supplier made this pipe, but the carver was clearly a talented and skilled craftsman: look at how he emphasized the straight grain below and above the slot on the bowl.
Pipe markings “Bewlay \ TWENTY” “LONDON MADE \ 122 \ 0”
Length 12.6 cm (4.96″)
Bowl Height 4.3 cm (1.69″)
Outside Diameter 3.8 cm (1.5″)
Chamber Diameter 1.8 cm (0.71″)
Chamber Depth 3.3 cm (1.3″)
Weight 28 gr.
Briar, vulcanite stem (carefully patched near the button – the trace is visible in good light), no filter.
The pipe was accurately smoked, it has been thoroughly cleaned, polished, sanitized and now is ready for a new life.
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