Nektarios Stavrinos Smooth Olive Wood Liverpool, Estate Pipe, Cyprian Estates

While pipes are made from a variety of plant materials today, including strawberry wood (arbutus), beech wood, morta, and so on, for a long time, briar was – outside of meerschaum – the absolute standard for pipe-making, even more so than it is today. But before briar became the norm, many woods were considered as replacements for fragile clays and expensive meers. One of these woods was from the olive tree. Long forgotten in mainstream pipe-making over the 20th century, artisan carvers have more recently revived the craft of making olive wood pipes. This Liverpool from Cyprian artisan Nektarios Stavrinos is one such example. It’s easy to see why artisans might be drawn to this material, as the grain of the pipe is certainly striking. It is also quite lightweight, allowing this good-sized piece to be less than 40 grams. The pipe is completed by a hand-cut marine swirl ebonite stem.

The condition is great. Some slight rim darkening.

Details:

Length: 6.2″ / 157.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.73 / 18.54mm

Bowl Depth: 1.48″ / 37.59mm

Weight: 1.3oz / 38g