Herriot Pipes Smooth Asymmetric Egg 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.

Since Chris Herriot’s trips to Copenhagen to study under Tom Eltang, his portfolio has expanded significantly, with an increasing number of more freeform shapes. One of the things Herriot has learned most from Eltang is the Danish approach to freehand shaping, allowing Herriot to access shapes that he had previously shied away from. Of course, even once a pipe maker begins carving freehand, they still have to decide where the technique will take them. In Herriot’s case, it’s frequently been toward highly organic, asymmetric renditions of classics from the Danish and Anglo-French traditions, with this deep contrast blend of the cobra and the egg being a stellar example.

Details:

Length: 5.5″ / 139.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.84 / 21.33mm

Bowl Depth: 1.56″ / 39.62mm

Weight: 2.1oz / 62g