Herriot Pipes Partially Sandblasted Prince Handmade Briar Pipe, New

Description

In 2003, one of France’s preeminent pipe luminaries, Erwin Van Hove, jubilantly proclaimed, “Hallelujah! One of the very best American artisans has recently settled on French soil.” Two decades later, Antoine Grenard, director of Chapuis-Comoy and president of the Confrérie des Maîtres-Pipiers de Saint-Claude, oversaw the induction of another artisan originally from the Anglophone world into its hallowed brotherhood. Van Hove was, of course, welcoming Trever Talbert. The Confrérie, on the other hand, was welcoming Chris Herriot. Parallels between the two are difficult to ignore; both were outsiders who laid down roots in France and, crucially, thrived by it. Both forged connections with the Francophone pipe community, developing friendships and associations that would help them lay the foundations of their respective brands. And both would build something on these foundations that garnered them significant national and international acclaim. In Herriot’s case, this meant apprenticing under Bruno Nuttens (himself a former student of Pierre Morel and Tom Eltang), spending several days each week laboring in Nuttens’ Charpey workshop, and the rest of his time in his own.

Sometimes it pays to go with a light touch. While sandblasting is often associated with deep, rugged reliefs, some shapes fare better being treated for what they are. In the case of this slightly plump prince rendition, Chris Herriot deliberately chose to match the design’s slightly delicate form with a similarly slightly delicate blast, allowing its contours to speak for themselves and maintain the elegance that princes are known for. This he’s paired with a dark blue ebonite mouthpiece, one whose distinctive but also quite reserved tones perfectly complete the aesthetic at hand.

Details:

Length: 5.4″ / 137.1mm

Bowl Width: 0.79 / 20.06mm

Bowl Depth: 1.23″ / 31.24mm

Weight: 1.3oz / 38g