Eclesias Pipes “Dragon Scale” Sandblasted Lovat Handmade Briar Pipe, New

Eclesias Pipes are made by Pavel Eclesias Holub, a Czech artisan and a genuine cult sensation in contemporary handmade pipes. Like his friend and former teacher, Jiří “Biftek” Maczko, Holub is one of the most prominent and recognizable figures in the Czech artisan community today, one that has become increasingly central in the broader European scene. Part of this no doubt comes down to his distinctive approach to the aesthetics of pipes, incorporating shapes and finishes that are, at times, singularly “Czech” and, at others, entirely of his own making.

One group of pipes Pavel Holub is especially renowned for is his sandblasted pieces—and none more so than his “Dragon Scale” sandblasts. Not unlike certain artisans in America, Holub will often put a single pipe through the sandblasting process countless times, in the pursuit of a jagged, ringed relief that straddles the line between a “pure” sandblast and a kind of pneumatic rustication.

While Pavel Holub’s signature sandblast finish is always distinctive, this might well be the most distinctive of its applications I’ve yet seen. Perhaps “Ice Dragon Scale” might be an appropriate term for this striking Lovat rendition, or perhaps one could call it an “inverted dress pipe,” combining as it does a wintery contrast finish on the bowl, a hand-cut white acrylic mouthpiece, and a slender black inlay at the latter’s base.

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.77 /19.55mm

Bowl Depth: 1.47″ / 37.33mm

Weight: 1.2oz / 36g