Herriot Pipes Smooth Golden Contrast Bell Dublin 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.

I must confess I’m a little biased on this one, as I do consider the Dublin one of the most perfect of pipe shapes, though I would imagine there’s plenty in this one by Chris Herriot to convert even the staunchest unbelievers. Occupying a middle ground between the Bell Dublins favored by Reuben Charatan, and the Arne Jacobsen approach found in post-war Danish pipes, Herriot’s rendition is exemplary in its sense of proportion, from its distinctive, conical bowl, to its slightly slender shank, to its unbeatable lightness. The composition is modest, though this works to the pipe’s advantage; a simple combination of briar and hand-cut black ebonite ensures the former, along with its bird’s-eye grain and golden contrast finish, gets all the attention it deserves.

Details:

Length: 5.6″ / 142.2mm

Bowl Width: 0.72 / 18.28mm

Bowl Depth: 1.64″ / 41.65mm

Weight: 0.9oz / 28g