Micoli (Robert Burns) 1974 XL Rusticated Meerschaum Freehand Estate Pipe, Unsmoked

Of all the artisans to have come out of the first, great wave of American freehand carvers in the post-war decades, Robert “Micoli” Burns is by far one of the most unique—which is saying something, considering his close contemporaries are individuals such as Michael Kabik, Randy Wiley, and Joe Mariner. He also remains one of the most celebrated, which is equally impressive given the number of high-grade American artisans who have taken up the craft across the course of Burns’ long career.

Meerschaum carving has a long history, one situated in various locales around the world, though in recent times, the production of meerschaum pipes has largely been confined to Turkey. Turkey is the home to the world’s largest meerschaum mining operations and a significant amount of the world’s block meerschaum deposits are located under Turkish soil. In 1972, Turkey’s government implemented legislation protecting the country’s meerschaum carving industry by prohibiting the export of raw meerschaum in block form, making it near-impossible for the great meerschaum houses of Europe elsewhere to source the material used to make their pipes. Some carvers pivoted to using pressed meerschaum (Turkey still allowed the export of meerschaum granules); others looked to African meerschaum (itself already an established medium for pipe making) as an alternative, until conflicts in the region led to ceased exports from there as well. Either way, the new rules meant that very, very few block meerschaum pipes have been carved outside of Turkey in the last 50 years.

Some pipe makers have a habit of breaking the rules, however. They find ways, often with the help of Turkish meerschaum artisans themselves, to get their hands on raw block meerschaum so that they can make pipes from them. It’s rare, but it does, on occasion, happen. Robert Burns, of Micoli, is famous for breaking rules, if nothing else, so if anyone was going to find their way around those pesky 1970s regulations, it would be him. I believe, based on the nomenclature, that this block meerschaum Micoli was made in 1974, just a couple of years after the export ban came into effect. And it is really something. If you know Micoli, you’ll already be familiar with their signature style, especially the deep, rusticated finishes achieved by Burns using a Dremel tool. Ordinarily, Burns’s art is applied to briar, though as one can see here, it works just as well on block meerschaum. Funnily enough, the kinds of tools Burns typically used are not entirely unheard of in meerschaum carving, though it’s safe to say that the artisans of Eskişehir rarely make a pipe quite like old ‘Mic did.

This pipe is completely unsmoked and comes with its original case.

Details:

Length: 7.6″ / 193.0mm

Bowl Width: 1.03 / 26.16mm

Bowl Depth: 1.23″ / 31.24mm

Weight: 2.4oz / 70g