DUNHILL "Namiki Quail" Limited Edition number 41 of 100

Made in England (made in 2017)

Ebonite stem with solid brass, gold plated band

Free gift wrapping is included

WHITE SPOT NAMIKI PIPE QUAIL

HISTORY

The collaboration between Britain’s Alfred Dunhill and Japan’s Namiki dates back to the 1920’s, during the Art Deco period. It began as an experiment with exquisite Japanese lacquer being applied to the company’s smoking accessories and writing instruments. The relationship was consolidated over the following decade, leading to the creation of authentic bilateral works of art, which have since become true collector’s pieces. This beautiful Namiki pipe features a Quail bird employing the Japanese lacquer art of Maki-e, a traditional art form which is over 5,000 years old. The process of lacquering is a highly skilled art using Urushi, the purified substance made from the sap from the lacquer tree which is first used to draw the image on the bowl (or used for the base coat before drawing Maki-e). Among others, powdered gold is then applied to the drawing while the lacquer is still moist. In a painstaking manual process, layer upon layer is added finally resulting – after many months of highly concentrated work by the artist – in the finished three- dimensional relief, which is then signed by the artist on completion. For this edition it took the shared efforts of two master artists, Mr. Michifumi Kawaguchi and Mr. Yutaka Sato 14 months to complete the task, employing complex techniques and elaborate refinement of the ornamentation. The base of the pipe is flawless Briarwood, decorated with the fine lacquer work using the Hira Maki-e technique, in which the lacquered design is decorated with sprinkled gold powder and several additional layers of lacquer are then applied. After the lacquer is hardened, it is then burnished to reveal a flat relief design. The pipe, a classic Billiard shape in group 4 (4103), is fitted with an engraved gold-plated brass band. Due to its superb lacquer quality and refined Maki-e techniques employed the Quail pipe is categorised as grade ‘C’. The pipe comes in standard packaging and is accompanied by signed and numbered certificates. The edition is strictly limited to only 100 units world-wide (of which No.1 will be kept in our archive). Numbers 1 – 55 were made and signed by master Michifumi and numbers 56 -100 by master Yutaka. After having launched the Sakura design in 2015 and the Two Carps design in 2016, this year’s Quail design is the last Namiki pipe, with no more additional Namiki pipe being planned in the coming years. The special stamping confirms this pipe to be number 41 of only 100 units world-wide.