Rhodesian

The Rhodesian: a bulldog with a round shank

How the Rhodesian got its name, how it differs from a bulldog, and Asikyan 463/25 — a morta Rhodesian, not briar.

Where it comes from

English factories used “Rhodesian” in the early twentieth century for a bulldog bowl on a round shank. The name is the historical name of a territory, the way “Canadian” and “Liverpool” are place-names on a list — not a workshop in Harare. The point was the same bead lines and tapered bowl, with a shank that is kinder in the fingers than a diamond. Some makers still call it a round-shank bulldog.

Asikyan Rhodesian 463/25, Morta, smooth
Rhodesian 463/25 · Morta, smooth

The specification

Bowl: bulldog taper with beads. Shank: round. Stem: cut to the round shank. 463/25 is the Rhodesian in this cabinet, and it is not briar: the plate is morta (bog oak), smooth, grey-charcoal, with a warm burl band. Morta is fossilised oak, lighter in colour, a different density, still drilled as a pipe. We do not invent millimetres for that plate.

Why it sits next to the bulldog

Compare 463/25 with 381/23. Same family of ridge and taper. Different shank, different wood, different year. If you like the beads and want a round shank in the hand, the Rhodesian is the word to use when you write to the atelier.

From the cabinet

Pipes in this note