Manfred Hortig 2021 Smooth Cubist Freehand Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked, 9mm

Description

Manfred Hortig belongs to a particular contingent of German and German-speaking artisans whose pipes are difficult to compare to just about anyone else’s—or, at least, to any pipe maker that came before them. Such figures include Roger Wallenstein, Uwe Maier, and the late Steffen Mueller who, alongside Manfred Hortig, have pursued design philosophies that are genuinely avant-garde. While there are elements in shaping that evoke the strange asymmetry of Japanese pipe making, such as is found in Kei-Ichi Gotoh, or finishing styles that sit on the borderline between smooth, sandblasted, and rusticated, not unlike Denmark’s Anne Julie, this German pipe making movement is nonetheless strikingly novel and contemporary.

There is a certain genre of pipes that is sometimes referred to as “pipe art.” These pipes are often complex and grandiose, but they also embody forms that are better suited for display in a cabinet or on a desk than for smoking. But there are other pipes that might better be described as “art pipes“—pipes with a distinct influence from art forms outside of their own while retaining the careful, functional necessities of such an instrument. Meerschaum carving is one example, but it’s not unheard of in briars as well. Take Ser Jacopo and the workshop’s Picta series, or the art deco designs of Micah Cryder and his Yeti Pipes. I would put this strange, beautiful piece by Germany’s Manfred Hortig in the “art pipe” category. Its basic form is not entirely dissimilar from “fan” style freehands, or even a Dublin at a push, but it’s also strongly reminiscent of cubism in fine art and architecture. Hortig is closer to Cryder here; though Ser Jacopo have a whole series devoted to the pipes featured in Picasso’s paintings, both Yeti and, I’d wager, Hortig have looked instead at cubism as a style, and indeed as an idea re-applied in three dimensions (art deco being a prominent example).

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating. It is chambered to accept 9mm filters if preferred and should be able to fit an adapter if not.

 

Details:

Length: 4.5″ / 114.3mm

Bowl Width: 0.82 / 20.82mm

Bowl Depth: 1.45″ / 36.83mm

Weight: 2.8oz / 82g