Nate Rose Sandblasted “Edward” Canadian Estate Briar Pipe, Canadian Estates

Description

As I always say, when it comes to pipe makers, what Canada lacks in quantity it more than makes up for in quality. Nate Rose is no exception. A former student of the legendary Canadian artisan Michael Parks, Rose first turned his expertise as an automotive engineer into a career as a pipe maker in the mid-2010s. One of his first endeavors in this vein was a collaboration with Michael Parks on the Commonweal project, which Parks personally selected Rose for. Commonweal pipes took their name from the British Commonwealth, as they were made from stummels turned by Les Wood, of Ferndown, which Parks finished and Rose cut stems for. Though he remains firm friends with Parks, Rose operates as a purely solo carver these days, putting out high-grade pipes via his Rose Pipes. Mixing a expressed fondness for classic Anglo-French shapes with a genuinely experimental streak, Rose can be counted alongside some of his fellow countrymen, such as Parks, Julius Vesz, and Todd Bannard, as well as others in the wider artisan scene, as a pipe maker at the very forefront of the contemporary neoclassical movement.

In terms of shaping preferences, there are two things that Nate Rose is especially fond of. The first is the “long shank,” and “long shank” shapes more generally, with the Canadian itself being a firm favorite of the Canadian artisan. The other is much less common, at least among contemporary artisans: oval chambers. Rose is one of a growing number of high-end artisans who have, in recent years, become quite fascinated with opera shapes. Not unlike the American carver J. Mouton, Rose also frequently hybridizes the opera, creating wholly new designs that feature elliptical chambers, rather than cylindrical or conical ones. The “Edward” is one such hybrid and one of Rose’s signature, neoclassical shapes. Loosely based on a pipe smoked by England’s King Edward VIII, the pipe combines the elliptical chamber of the opera with the long, similarly elliptical shank of a Canadian. It’s a highly novel shape, without straying too far from Anglo-French conventions (it also may well be the ultimate “Nate Rose” shape). This one is delightfully lightweight and dressed in a ring grain, contrast sandblast, complemented by a tan ebonite mouthpiece.

The condition is fair. Some darkening and general wear to the rim and some finish fading.

Details:

Length: 6.1″ / 154.9mm

Bowl Width: 1.06 / 26.92mm

Bowl Depth: 1.59″ / 40.38mm

Weight: 1.1oz / 34g