Liverpool

The Liverpool: long shank, tapered stem

How an English Liverpool differs from a Lovat and a billiard, with Asikyan 441/24 — the Liverpool plate in the 2024 archive.

Where it comes from

Liverpool is another English factory name from the same generation as the Lovat and the Canadian. It is the port city on the label, nothing more. The point of the shape was a longer shank than a billiard, with a tapered stem instead of a saddle. Smokers who wanted the extra cooling of a long shank but disliked the step of a saddle bit asked for a Liverpool. Charatan, GBD and the Saint-Claude exporters all used the name.

Asikyan Liverpool 441/24, Rusticated
Liverpool 441/24 · Rusticated

The specification

Bowl: billiard (upright cylinder) or a slightly Dublin-leaning cone — factories varied. Shank: round, elongated. Stem: tapered, flush with the shank. It is not a Lovat (saddle) and not a Canadian (oval shank). 441/24 is the only Liverpool photographed in this cabinet. The plate shows a rusticated bowl that leans a little toward a Dublin, a slim saddle-looking line in the notes, and a gold stem mark. We print no millimetres; the plate has none.

When to choose it

Want a straight classical bowl and a longer, quieter draw without a saddle step? That is the Liverpool. If you want the saddle, follow the Lovat. If you want the short shank, stay with the billiard. Levon stamps all three the same way.

From the cabinet

Pipes in this note