Eldritch Pipes XL Smooth Viking Horn Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

Description

Eldritch Pipes are the creation of Chris Kelly, known not only for being one of England’s foremost artisans, and not only for his various collaborations with other contemporary English masters, such as Chris Askwith and Ian Walker of Northern Briars, and with established companies, such as Rattray’s and Ken Byron Ventures. In addition to all of the above, Kelly is the man behind a material that is ubiquitous in artisan pipe making today: Eldritch Cumberland. These custom-cast resins are used by pipe makers all over the globe, making the cult of Kelly a vast and powerful one indeed.

Most of Chris Kelly’s Eldritch Pipes are either sandblasted or rusticated, using techniques and finishes that fit his distinctive Lovecraftian aesthetic. But, on occasion, the “briar gods” will smile upon him, leaving him compelled to opt for a smooth finish. Such was the case for this pipe, whose form has been dubbed by Kelly the “Viking Horn.” While horn shapes in post-war pipe making often derive from animal horns (such as the Olifant designs of Sixten Ivarsson and Bo Nordh), Kelly’s shape stands at one remove, being modeled on the drinking horns used by the Vikings, which were themselves carved from ox and bull horns. This one wears a fittingly dark contrast stain, which nonetheless allows the shape’s signature cross grain and bird’s-eye patterns to shine through, and is paired with a hand-cut stem which I’d assume to be a black variety of Eldritch resin. As a last touch, a kiss of plateaux burl peeks out from the very base of the bowl, like the eye of an ancient god, watching from the shadows.

The pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating. It comes with its original box and sleeve.

Details:

Length: 7.2″ / 182.8mm

Bowl Width: 0.85 / 21.59mm

Bowl Depth: 1.62″ / 41.14mm

Weight: 2.4oz / 70g