Micoli (Robert Burns) Partially Rusticated Freehand Estate Briar Pipe, American Estates

Description

Of all the artisans to have come out of the first, great wave of American freehand carvers in the post-war decades, Robert “Micoli” Burns is by far one of the most unique—which is saying something, considering his close contemporaries are individuals such as Michael Kabik, Randy Wiley, and Joe Mariner. He also remains one of the most celebrated, which is equally impressive given the number of high-grade American artisans who have taken up the craft across the course of Burns’ long career.

As with so many materials that humans subsist by, briar has its origins in the organism but must be, for our purposes, dead. To use the parlance of Dunhill, it is dead root. And yet there are many ways to make briar seem “alive” again, from the “swimming” blowfishes of Tokutomi, to the en pointe ballerinas of Nordh, to the wild, “dancing” figures of Florov. This Micoli also has a lively spirit, and indeed something of a “dancing” figure. Burns’ signature Dremel-applied rustication lends the bowl a germinal aesthetic, as if the root is still growing years after its harvest. Similarly, Burns’ signature, twisted mouthpiece appears to shoot out of the bowl, carrying with it the fire soon to be inside once more.

The condition is very good. Some inner rim darkening. The pipe comes with its original, wooden presentation case.

 

Details:

Length: 7.0″ / 177.8mm

Bowl Width: 0.75 / 19.05mm

Bowl Depth: 1.23″ / 31.24mm

Weight: 1.9oz / 54g