out of curiosity, since this was a commissioned piece, would the commissioner, (in this case the US wholesaler) have designed what they want? Or is it more likely that he simply said, give me a Sherlockian w8, and Allan Scott took it from there.
I'm guessing it probably varied depending on the piece, a business that commissioned one for their business, would probably have , at least, sent initial sketches of what they wanted. And then the Caithness designer would have designed the w8, and then sent a schematic and/or drrawing back for approval.
In this case, I'm guessing the wholesaler said, give me a pipe, and then Allan did the design, with back and forths, revising and polishing, until both were happy.
Idle curiosity.
Bob