The Peterson Sherlock Holmes Series

The Peterson Sherlock Holmes series is a body of large-volume briar pipes the Dublin maker launched in 1987, dedicated to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective. According to records, the series' starting point was the hundredth anniversary of A Study in Scarlet, the novel in which the detective first appears; the single pipe prepared for that anniversary quickly became the seed of a programme that grew into two sets of seven. It ranks among Peterson's most widely distributed series by sales volume.

Shared Features of the Series

The series' naming logic is tied to Doyle's texts from start to finish: the shapes take their names from characters, locations, and objects that became symbols of the stories. On the form side, three constants tie the two sets together. The first is size: every shape belongs to the "XL" class, meaning the bowl is noticeably wider than Peterson's standard chambers. The second is material and craftsmanship: the bowls are cut in Ireland from Mediterranean-sourced briar. The third is the hallmarked sterling silver band joining mouthpiece and bowl; the detective's profile silhouette is stamped onto the band.

The one structural choice left to the buyer is the mouthpiece; the same shapes are offered both with Peterson's own P-Lip mouthpiece and with a straight fishtail cut. Finishes were not confined to a single line either: alongside smooth-polished and black bowls, rustic and, on some shapes, sandblasted surfaces are recorded, and a limited number of meerschaum examples have also been catalogued. It is reported that the same shape family was also offered as a second-tier line called "Kinsale," without the silver band and with a plainer finish; independent confirmation of this line has not been found.

The Original Collection

The first set was released under the name "The Original Collection" and comprised seven pipes corresponding to the seven days of the week; the set was offered together with a purpose-made wooden stand. The prototypes are said to have been prepared by Peterson master Paddy Larrigan. The shapes making up the set are as follows:

Name	Peterson shape	Form
Original	XL11	Bent urn reminiscent of a calabash
Baskerville	XL12	Full bent
Baker Street	XL13	Large bulldog
Deerstalker	XL14	Quarter-bent bulldog
Squire	XL15	Quarter-bent Rhodesian
Professor	XL16	Half-bent brandy
Watson	XL17	Full-bent Rhodesian

The Original, whose name was given to the series' launch pipe, renders in briar the calabash silhouette that became the detective's visual cliché. The heavy presence of bulldog and Rhodesian shapes stands out; for the difference between these two related shapes, see the Bulldog and Rhodesian entry.

The Return Of

Following the interest the first set received, a second set of seven new shapes was released over the course of the 1990s. Named "The Return of," this group also kept the XL bowl size, the silver band, and its own wooden stand. The shapes are, in order, Rathbone (XL20), Hudson (XL21), Mycroft (XL22), Lestrade (XL23), Milverton (XL24), Strand (XL25), and Hansom (XL26). The name Rathbone refers to the actor who played the detective in the black-and-white films of the 1930s and 1940s, while Mycroft refers to Holmes's brother. Lestrade is described as a full-bent apple, Strand as a quarter-bent apple, and Hansom as a bent Rhodesian.

Peterson's habit of building series around literary and historical names is not confined to this one; the same approach can be traced in the Peterson Mark Twain and Peterson Darwin series entries as well.