The "106" bent Billiard from Rattray's is a more gently bent rendition compared to the Scottish marque's "2" and "8" designs. With a stout, abbreviated shank, the "106" features a burly, broad bowl, making for a robust design that doesn't lack in palm-filling substance and exudes a muscular, almost Pot-like presence. It's a pipe meant to be held, marked by a firm heel and hearty proportions, while the elongated, tapered stem adds a touch of accenting refinement in profile.
Described by John Francis Campbell in Popular Tales of the West Highlands, a four-volume compilation of fairy tales and Scottish folklore, the Fachen is a giant of singular features, displaying a single eye in the middle of its face, a single tuft of hair atop its head, a single hand protruding from its chest, and a single leg supporting it from below. Oddly enough, that description fits in quite well with the characteristics of a pipe: a single shank emerging from the side of a single bowl (like an arm from out of the chest), within which lies a single chamber (a myopic eye), and after issuing a charring light, such loose leaves of tobacco could very well resemble a tuft of hair. Such uncanny similarities have prompted the Scottish marque to devote a whole series to the mythical beast, offering pipes marked by a dark green color palette and a sandblasted finish.
Measurements & Other Details
- Length: 5.28 in./134.11 mm.
- Weight: 1.70 oz./48.19 g.
- Bowl Height: 1.89 in./48.01 mm.
- Chamber Depth: 1.45 in./36.83 mm.
- Chamber Diameter: 0.84 in./21.34 mm.
- Outside Diameter: 1.47 in./37.34 mm.
- Stem Material: Acrylic
- Filter: 9mm
- Shape: Bent Billiard
- Finish: Sandblast
- Material: Briar
- Country: Other