Ed Burak Connoisseur Smooth Oom Paul Estate Briar Pipe, American Estates

Description

Known as the “dean of American pipe designers” Ed Burak was not a pipe-maker per se. Rather, Burak was someone who worked with the master carvers of his time to bring his distinct ideas of what a pipe could be to life. As the owner of the Connoisseur Pipe Shop, Burak designed freehand pipes so singularly representative of pipe-making as an artistic endeavor, that many of the resulting works ended up in New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

As Voltaire once said, if the Oom Paul did not exist, it would be necessary for Ed Burak to invent it. Something like that, anyway. That’s because, while he was a pioneer in avant-garde pipe designs, the Oom Paul fit Burak’s style to a T. Tall, large, and with a rollercoaster curvature leading from lip to lip—such could be said of just about any Ed Burak pipe, so it’s unsurprising that the Oom Paul and its variations featured so frequently in his output.

The condition is very good. Some slight rim darkening and minor nicks at the top of the chamber. There are a couple of small, natural, cosmetic imperfections in the exterior of the briar, though nothing major. Burak himself thought such things were never to be hidden, nor considered a detraction from the artist’s work.

 

Details:

Length: 5.5″ / 139.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.85 / 21.59mm

Bowl Depth: 2.11″ / 53.59mm

Weight: 1.6oz / 46g