Rainer Barbi Smooth Squat Tomato Estate Briar Pipe, German Estates

Description

Alongside near-contemporaries such as Otto Pollner and Karlheinz Joura, Rainer Barbi was one of the “grand old men” of German artisan pipe making. Beginning his career in the 1970s, Barbi was largely self-taught, but nevertheless managed to establish a reputation as one of the most talented freehand pipe carvers in the world. In his later years, Barbi would partner with companies such as Hilson, Brebbia, and [posthumously] Dan Pipe in order to offer series-produced pipes based on his own designs. Barbi passed away in 2011.

An old friend remarked to me once that, after Rainer Barbi’s passing, the quality of pipes generally speaking got worse. By his reckoning, this was not simply because, with Barbi gone, there were fewer high-grade pipes being made, but boiled down to an all the more bold claim: that Barbi, both directly and indirectly, enforced strict standards as to what a high-grade should be, whether this was in terms of shaping, engineering, finishing, and—of course—good grain.

This particular Barbi is one of his signature, low-slung, squat, and slightly operatic designs, and as I was not able to locate a grade or date stamp on it, it may have been made in the early 1980s, based on the rest of the nomenclature. I have heard that one of Barbi’s biggest regrets as a pipe maker was adopting a grading system for his pipes, as it introduced what he came to see as an unnecessary complication in the pursuit of simply making high-grade pipes. Either way, I’m inclined to agree on that. A Barbi is always going to be beautiful and well-made, and such qualities don’t easily translate into the language of quantity.

The condition is good. Some inner rim darkening, slight finish fading, and stem slightly over-buffed at the base.

Details:

Length: 5.7″ / 144.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.88 / 22.35mm

Bowl Depth: 1.22″ / 30.98mm

Weight: 1.9oz / 56g