Newcastle Smooth Terracotta (177) (9mm) Tobacco Pipe

Rattray's "177" bent Billiard is a sinuous and muscular interpretation of the classic shape, its build marked by a deeply bent shank-and-stem combination. This pairing maintains a distinctive muscularity throughout its high-kicking travel out of the open transition, their steep curvature promising easy jaw-hanging and lending the profile a bit of gracefulness. The bowl here sits atop a lifted heel and boasts a low-set waistline with plenty of plumpness for a comfortable feel in hand, the walls taking on a forward-canting taper to the rim that keeps profile quite dynamic, despite its stoutness. A slight outward push of briar at the underside of the transitional area not only adds additional muscularity, but informs the heel's lift, placing emphasis on the bowl without making the bowl itself overly large.

Rattray's Newcastle line honors Newcastle upon Tyne, a cathedral city in England known for its industrial might and storied history. The defining trait of the Newcastle series is a shiny metallic accent, a nod to to its namesake's sophisticated architecture. Each pipe in the series is presented in one of three finishes: a dark sandblast, a terracotta smooth finish, or a grey smooth finish. This particular examples wears the terracotta smooth finish.

Note: While all of our other pipes are photographed individually, these are not, and you may expect some reasonable cosmetic variation between the example we've photographed and the pipe you've received.