Peter Heding Gold Grade Smooth Lion w/ Spalted Maple Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

Description

A former molecular biologist, Denmark’s Peter Heding could be considered as part of the “Eltang school” of Danish pipe makers. Not because his work is stylistically similar to Tom Eltang, but because he is one of the dozens of 21st century pipe makers to have been a student of Eltang’s during the formative years of his career. Even among the contemporary superstars to have “graduated” from an Eltang apprenticeship, Heding has stood out in the sheer renown he has managed to achieve. Heding’s first mature works debuted in 2004 and 2005, being personally introduced at the Chicago Pipe Show by Tom and his wife Pia. In the years since, he’s become one of Denmark’s premier artisans. One consequence of this is that Heding was able to leave the world of molecular biology behind and go full-time as a professional pipe maker. The other consequence is that Heding’s pipes are notoriously difficult to get one’s hands on.

Along with fellow Danes such as Teddy Knudsen, Lasse Skovgaard, and Kent Rasmussen, Peter Heding is one of those pipe makers whose works frequently escape established categories when it comes to shapes. While the pipes are hand carved, they’re not “freehands” in the popular sense of the term, i.e., the kinds of pipes most readily associated with Preben Holm or Erik Nording. They can be wildly different from the norm, but are never designs of pure chance. This particular pipe belongs to a signature genre of shapes Heding has called the “Lion.” In essence, it is a reverse cobra, with the bowl’s flattened plane being placed at its rear, rather than out front. Combined with the use of cross grain, the result resembles a lion’s mane more than a cobra’s hood.
Whatever one decides to call it, it’s a beautiful pipe, enough to earn it a Gold grade. Up to 2017, Heding’s pipes were graded, in ascending order, Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Diamond, each having an inlay of its namesake to indicate which qualification it had attained.

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating. It comes with its original leather sleeve.

 

Details:

Length: 5″ / 127.0mm

Bowl Width: 0.81 / 20.57mm

Bowl Depth: 1.76″ / 44.70mm

Weight: 2.1oz / 60g