Peterson Ebony Spigot 221 Fishtail, era undetermined

This reference example documents a Peterson Ebony Spigot in shape 221, an estate pipe of Irish manufacture fitted with a fishtail mouthpiece and a spigot mount. The spigot construction is among the most distinctive features Peterson offers: rather than a conventional push-fit tenon of or seated directly in the mortise, a spigot pipe joins stem to shank through paired metal fittings, a system with roots in nineteenth-century military and travel pipes, where a damaged joint could be separated and remounted in the field. On Peterson's Ebony Spigot line this hardware is set against a deep black finish over the bowl and shank, giving the series its name and its characteristic formal contrast of dark wood and bright metal. The fishtail mouthpiece is itself a meaningful designation within the Peterson catalogue. The firm is most famously associated with its patented P-Lip, which directs smoke upward through a graduated bore; the fishtail is the conventional open-slot alternative, offered across many Peterson lines for smokers who prefer a traditional draw. Its presence here identifies this 221 as the standard-bit variant of the shape. The company assigns numeric shape designations, of which 221 is one, allowing a given form to be produced across multiple finish lines. Dating Peterson pipes typically proceeds from the country-of-origin stamp, hallmarks on any sterling fitments, and the styling of the nomenclature, since the firm has used no systematic factory date code across its history. On the basis of the seed record alone, which attests the brand, line, shape number, mouthpiece style, and estate status, the period of manufacture is left as an undetermined era within Peterson's production of the Ebony Spigot series.