HS Studio Sandblasted Long Shank Peewit w/ Boxwood Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

Description

If you’ve been keeping up with the world of Chinese pipe making, their artisan scene has been really taking off over the last decade. Like the great Danish institutions of old, many of these pipes are produced in artisan workshops such as Zhiputang, Qi Studio, and GH Zhang. Hong Kong’s HS Studio follows a similar model, with a team of expert in-house carvers crafting high-quality briars in a variety of styles.

There are some shapes within pipe making that one could, if time and resources permitted, write entire books about. To my knowledge, only one such book exists thus far, that being Gary Shrier’s History of the Calabash Pipe, but there are plenty of other worthy candidates, such as the medium-hopping cutty, or the multifarious Dublin. In modern pipe making, one shape that strikes as particularly worthy of extended, written attention would be the “Peewit.” Originally conceived by Sixten Ivarsson, the Peewit is defined by a bowl resembling an acorn, or a strawberry, with its transition into the shank being ever so slightly raised so that it has something of a “foot” at its base. Despite its resemblance to fruits and seeds, however, Ivarsson’s inspiration was avian: the lapwing bird. In the approximately seven decades since Ivarsson’s initial design, the Peewit has evolved time and again, with memorable renditions produced not only by pipe makers inspired by Ivarsson, but also his son and granddaughter, Lars Ivarsson, and Nanna Ivarsson. This sandblasted rendition from HS Studio strikes me as more of a Lars homage, especially with its subtle contrast stain and boxwood accent.

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating.

 

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.72 / 18.28mm

Bowl Depth: 1.54″ / 39.11mm

Weight: 1.4oz / 42g