The "12" shape designation on Dunhill's standard shape chart denotes a Chimney/Stack bowl. In this particularly Group 4 version, that stummel is fitted to a slightly bent stem as denoted by the second "4" stamp in the nomenclature. Such a pairing adds more gesture to the silhouette and lends the bowl the impression of a forward cant, while also more evenly distributing the pipe's weight. The tall, deep-chambered bowl is appreciatively dressed in the Cumberland line's rustic sandblast, affording plenty of surface area to enjoy its texture and namesake stem.

When Alfred Dunhill released his patented Shell Briar, he forever changed the pipe smoking world at large. Dunhill has often been credited with being the first to offer sandblasted pipes (arguably the most popular finish today), and the Cumberland finish further displayed Dunhill's innovative spirit. Well received after its release in 1979, the Cumberland series was named for the English marque's warehouse on Cumberland road, and the line's signature, brindled vulcanite stem became so iconic, the warmly striated material is now referred to simply as "cumberland."