57. Peterson B Shapes, Part 4 (B35 – B48)
With this installment, we’re just past the mid-point in the visual dictionary of Peterson’s B shapes. If this is your first look at the Bs, you may want to take a look back at Parts 1 – 3, because these twenty-five years—which span the early 1990s through 2013—mark an important and probably ended chapter in Peterson’s shape history. This is just a hunch, of course, but I suspect the era of Peterson special collections and extravagant Limited Edition pipes has come to a close, at least for now. What follows includes pipes from the Castle Collection (2009), the Antique Collection (2009), the Writer’s Collection (2010), and a sprinkling of Limited Edition / POY shapes. B35 The “Kaffir” B35, one of my favorite shapes, is part of the 2009 Antique Collection. If you haven’t read about this Peterson shape before, you can catch up at https://petersonpipenotes.wordpress.com/2014/09/21/the-peterson-kaffir-horn-and-bent-albert-zulu/ . It has appeared in a number of lines after the Antique Collection, including (but probably not limited to) the 2013 St. Patrick’s Day, 2013 Christmas (seen above), 2014 Christmas, Italian Rock of Cashel (with acrylic marmelade stem below), the Italian Army Linseed blast, Derry Rustic, and most recently, a saddle bit Killarney (directly below). Given all these appearances of the B35, I think I must be the odd man out, and it is quite possible no one else much appreciates this shape. Pete fan Mark Domingues may echo many pipemen in his dislike of this shape, because, as he rightly observes, when you’re smoking it, you can’t see inside the bowl, making it difficult to light or know if you're scorching the rim. Killarney Measurements: Length: 6.52 in. / 165.58 mm. Weight: 1.40 oz. / 39.74 g. Bowl Height: 2.03 in. / 51.51 mm. Chamber Depth: 1.55 in. / 39.35 mm. Chamber Diameter: 0.79 in. / 20.17 mm. Outside Diameter: 1.35 in. / 34.37 mm. Shapes B36, B38-B40 are taken from the 2009 Castles Collection B36 The B36, a barrel setter, derives from the Malahide, part of the quartet forming the 2009 Castle Collection. Its best presentation is certainly in the current Derry Rustic line seen below, although it previously has appeared in the Donegal Rocky and James Fox Hunter Rustic lines. Derry Rustic Measurements: Length: 6.04 in. / 153.48 mm. Weight: 1.81 oz. / 51.41 g. Bowl Height: 1.93 in. / 49.11 mm. Chamber Depth: 1.53 in. / 38.84 mm. Chamber Diameter: 0.75 in. / 19.05 mm. Outside Diameter: 1.46 in. / 37.18 mm. B37 This pipe is the other part of the 2009 Antique Collection, a quiet, slender billiard found in the 1906 catalog. It has appeared in the number of lines since then, including the Italian Blackrock (sterling mount) seen directly below, Christmas 2014, Donegal Rocky, Killarney, Derry Rustic, and, to great effect, last year’s Roundstone Spigot pictured after the Blackrock below. Roundstone Spigot Measurements: Length: 5.71 in. / 145.03 mm. Weight: 1.60 oz. / 45.36 g. Bowl Height: 1.93 in. / 49.02 mm. Chamber Depth:…