Lee Von Erck 2011 A Grade XL Smooth Spiral Panel Estate Briar Pipe, American Estates

Description

It may be hard to believe, but Lee Von Erck didn’t always want to be a pipe maker. Heck, he didn’t always want to smoke pipes—not until the necessities of his military station in post-war France, which included cigarette rationing, led him to that other, older form of nicotine delivery. The reason this may seem strange, now, is that Von Erck is widely considered to be one of the greatest pipe makers the world has yet known, living or otherwise.

For several decades after his military service, Von Erck trained dogs, and he was very good at it, even training them for various competitions across the US. After retiring from that vocation, Von Erck, seemingly on something of a whim, purchased an entire workshop’s worth of tools and machines from a pipe repair business that was closing down. His intention was to start a repair business of his own, something that the previous owner was happy to help Von Erck get started with. The next stage in Von Erck’s pipe career is less surprising, and something that’s occurred to many a pipe repair technician throughout the history of the craft; he decided that he was no longer content in just fixing pipes made by others, and that he would be happier if he could make pipes of his own.

Von Erck got his wish and then some. By 2003, French pipe luminary Erwin Van Hove would go so far as to claim that even Europe did not yet have its own answer to to Von Erck’s creativity, ingenuity, and skill. Von Erck had managed to create a unique style as far as design went, had devised his own, specialized techniques for the various aspects of pipe making (including a secret and highly successful method of oil curing his stummels), and possessed the mastery to apply his style and techniques to pipes that were unquestionably of the highest grade. These properties, coupled with Von Erck’s perfectionism and low yearly production volume, have made his pipes the “white whale” of many a pipe smoker and collector.

This particular pipe is one of Von Erck’s signature designs, an exceptionally large, paneled and spiral-carved Lovat, one whose geometry would make MC Escher blush. Having done a deep dive into the origins of this pipe, it appears that it was, originally, considered for entry into the Greater Kansas City Pipe Club’s annual Pipe Carving Contest for 2011, until it was snatched up by one of Von Erck’s dedicated customers. It seems, however, that Von Erck was quite set on entering it, as he made crafted an uncannily similar pipe not long after, which he did enter into the contest, and which he won joint-1st place with. Both pipes were, furthermore, of the same grade (“A” as designated by the nomenclature) and used briar from Domenico “Mimmo” Romeo in Italy (“MM”).

The condition is very good. Minor rim darkening and very slight, residual stem oxidation.

Details:

Length: 6.8″ / 172.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.97 / 24.63mm

Bowl Depth: 2.00″ / 50.8mm

Weight: 1.3oz / 38g