The Bulldog and its Variants
Bulldog & Bent Bulldog
The Bulldogs have a very distinctive shape. The bowl has a cross section almost like a pair of cones, placed base to base, with the upper cone truncated. The shank is diamond shaped, sometimes with the bottom flattened. The stem can either be tapered or saddled. The Bent Bulldog typcially has a squatter bowl, and the shank is angled appropriately for a 1/4 bent stem.
Above are a Dunhill Root 47 bulldog, Shell O squat bulldog, Shell P (to my eye, THE classic bent bulldog) and a saddle bit bulldog, shape 48, in Root finish.
Three more Bulldogs, all GBDs, just 'cause. The top one is a Squat Bulldog from 1948, the center one, a beautiful GBD XTRA from 1919, the bottom one is from 1929. The center pipe is one of the most beautifully cut Bulldogs I've ever seen, though its rounded edges deviate slightly from the "classic" versions. But, what can be more classic than a pipe from 1919? Yep. I love Bulldogs!
Bulldog Variants
Not all Bulldogs can be categorized as straight, or accurately placed in the Bent Bulldog class. Dunhill, among others, produce Bulldogs, both tall and squat, with 1/8 bent stems.
Above are pictured a Dunhill Bruyere 146, a very rarely seen shape, and a Shell PO, 1/8 bent squat bulldog.
Rhodesian, Bull Moose & Bullcap
To my mind, the Rhodesian has a round shank. There are apparently two schools of thought on this issue, and some feel that any bent bulldog is a Rhodesian. I prefer to classify the round shanked versions and those with a diamond shank seperately, and there seems to be some precident to support this umong some of the older, more traditional manufactureres. The chubby, voluptuous, round shanked versions are often incorrectly referred to as the Bull Moose, though most experts feel that the true Bull Moose sports a “jutting” chin. Call them what you will, these are beautiful shapes, and perhaps the shapes that generate more passion in the collecting of them and the discussion of them than any other!
Above are an Ashton Old Church Rhodesian, a Comoy Extraordinaire Rhodesian, a 1950 GBD Saddle Rhodesian, and a Comoy Tradition Straight Rhodesian. (Some would call this a Bullcap, though I think it's a little too thick and not long enough for the appelation.)