J Alan 2024 Contrast Sandblasted Volcano (2207) Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

Description

In the pantheon of American master artisans, few have ascended to the heights reached by Jeffrey A. Burt-Gracik, aka Jeff Gracik, aka the man behind J. Alan pipes. Gracik took up pipe smoking while pursuing a doctorate at Princeton University. After a while, he toyed with the idea of making his own, spending the early 2000s experimenting with the very limited resources he had at his disposal. In 2004, however, Gracik met and befriended Todd Johnson through a classmate, kickstarting the equivalent of an Ivy League degree in pipes. Gracik began studying with Johnson and was furthermore introduced to pipe shows and the luminaries that frequented them at the time. This included various other masters from around the world, including Jody Davis and Tonni Nielsen. Davis and Nielsen both invited Gracik into their own workshops, affording Gracik an even wider faculty from which to learn all the ins and outs of a truly high-grade pipe. Gracik’s enviable tutelage in, and self-admittedly “obsessive” pursuit of, pipe making perfection would soon pay off. Gracik sold his first pipe in 2005 for around one hundred dollars; today, he is one of the most acclaimed pipe makers in America, if not the world, and a typical J. Alan pipe is priced not in the hundreds, but the thousands.

In the last 20-30 years, during the veritable renaissance of artisan pipes following the birth of the Internet, the volcano has become a fixture of American pipe making. From the towering “Samurai” volcanoes of Todd Johnson to the compact, asymmetrical renditions of David Huber, the shape has become something of a proving ground for high-grade carvers across the 50 states. But that’s not to say there aren’t precedents, and in the case of American volcanoes two great Danish artisans stand out as progenitors. One is Teddy Knudsen and the other is Jorn Micke, both of which have become known for their flowing, flaring, bulge-based approaches to the shape. There tends to be a little of both in American renditions, though the degree of affinity varies with each. Johnson’s volcanoes lean more toward Knudsen, for example, while Huber’s are much more “Micke.” Jeff Gracik’s, on the other hand, strike a balance between the two, mirroring Knudsen’s distinctly slim vertical profile while reining in both the size and ornamentation in a way closer to Micke’s style.
On the other hand, the finishing on this J. Alan volcano, with its crisp, ring grain, contrast sandblast, is an American tradition unto itself, one which figures like J. Alan have set the standard for.

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating.

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.74 / 18.79mm

Bowl Depth: 1.44″ / 36.57mm

Weight: 2.6oz / 74g