This is one of the rarest and most desirable of all Dunhill pipes because of the convergence of shape, year, and finish. The LB has been Dunhill's benchmark billiard since it was introduced, and 1952 was the first year of the Tanshell finish.
Only a handful of Tanshells were made in any shape that year---they were prototypes for all practical purposes---and Algerian briar was used instead of Sardinian for the trial run. (Sardinian, which is harder and blasts MUCH less dramatically, became standard the following year, 1953)
I've been at this game almost a half century, and this is the first '52 Tanshell LB I've seen.
This one was in heavily smoked "as found" condition and would likely not survived much longer. (The stem had already been replaced at least once, and badly)
