Michael Parks (2009) (V) Magnum Sandblasted Poker Sitter with Mammoth and Imilac (Estate)

About this pipe:

What Canada lacks in quantity in pipe makers it most certainly makes up for in quality. From the Blatter family, to Julius Vesz, to Todd Bannard, Stephen Downie, Eugene Miscoi, and others, Canada continues to be home to a significant number of extremely talented and acclaimed artisan carvers. Among the most acclaimed is Michael Parks of Bowmanville, Ontario. As a teenager, Parks was introduced to pipe smoking by his grandfather, which also served as a gateway to a lifelong admiration for classic pipe shapes. Not long after, Parks undertook college studies in fine art, which would have a similarly formative effect on his approach to pipe design. Mentored by Lee Von Erck, Parks emerged in the early 2000s as nothing less than a pipe making sensation, equally renowned for his immaculate renditions of 20th century staples and his unique, sculptural pieces, ranging from the delicate and ornate to the bombastic and avant-garde. Parks has held onto his position in the upper echelons of artisan pipes for many years now, with no sign of this changing anytime soon.

Pipe makers use all sorts of materials to accent their designs, though few have been quite as adventurous and open to experimentation as Canada’s Michael Parks. From exotic woods, to precious metals, to minerals, to varieties of bone, horn, and ivory, the list of different forms of ornamentation across Parks’ portfolio is longer than that of many artisan communities combined.

In the case of this pipe, there are a couple of unusual materials of note incorporated into the design, and what’s especially impressive is how cohesively they fit into the themes it expresses. In terms of form, it’s a staggeringly large rendition of a poker/cherrywood sitter, though its finish is perhaps what first catches the eye, being an intensely craggy, dark chestnut sandblast, with a richness of texture rivaling that of the pipe’s plateau-edge rim and shank end. Continuing that geological aesthetic is the pipe’s mineral-like acrylic mouthpiece, inlaid with Parks’ signature mother of pearl inlay. But it’s what’s between shank and stem that’s most interesting. At the stem’s base, one finds a subtle, narrow ring of fossilized mammoth ivory, which just barely peeks out to provide a glimpse of white amidst the pipe’s earthier tones. Above the mammoth, on the other hand, is a cast resin in which are suspended fragments of Imilac, a meteorite discovered in Chile’s Atacama Desert 2 centuries ago, but which was first formed around the same time as the birth of our own solar system. As any good artisan will tell you, making a pipe takes time—in the case of this one, approximately 4.5 billion years.

The condition is great. Minor inner rim darkening.

 

Details:

Length: 8.34″ / 211.8mm

Chamber Width: 0.88″ / 22.35mm

Chamber Depth: 2.88″ / 73.15mm

Bowl Height: 3.25″ / 82.55mm

Weight: 5.6oz / 158g