C-Pipe Smooth Golden Contrast Volcano Handmade Briar Pipe, New

Description

Not unlike certain 20th century Western pipe making institutions, such as Charatan, Pibe-Dan, or WO Larsen, a number of workshops in China have emerged in the 21st century filled with artisans working under a single banner. This includes GH Zhang, Qi Pipe Studio, and C-Pipe. With C-Pipe, however, there is something of a difference. Founded by former architect and lifelong pipe collector YiGang Wang, C-Pipe is a workshop of around a dozen artisans, most of whom originally came to pipe making from fields such as fine art and industrial design. While there are clear influences on C-Pipe’s output from various post-war schools, the workshop’s style is as varied as the individuals who work there. The resulting pipes reflect a synthesis of collective and individual creative endeavors, following a model closer to the ones pursued by Scandinavian post-war institutions, and which made artisan pipes what they are today.

In the case of this pipe, there’s a great marriage of shapes and styles at play in its design. On the one hand, it leans into the classical shaping of the Oom Paul, with a steep, full bend that follows from button to base. But one can also see that its principal point of reference is the far more contemporary volcanoes of Scandinavian-inspired American artisan pipes, especially those of Todd Johnson and his numerous students. The finishing, on the other hand, is a more straightforwardly Danish affair, with a rich golden contrast stain in the vein of Tom Eltang, allowing the flame grain underneath to blaze with an intensity befitting the pipe’s form.

 

Details:

Length: 5.6″ / 142.2mm

Bowl Width: 0.76 / 19.30mm

Bowl Depth: 1.46″ / 37.08mm

Weight: 1.8oz / 52g