Smith House Vintage Sandblasted Billiard with Ebonite Ferrule (New)

Taking their name from architect Richard Meier’s avant-garde homestead just off the Long Island Sound, Smith House Pipes are the creation of New York artisan Rich Rosselli. Like the Danish-American functionalists before him, Rosselli excels at creating modernized renditions of tried-and-true, traditional, Anglo-French staples. This he combines with novel uses of color and ornamentation, giving Smith House Pipes their acclaimed, signature aesthetic.

The straight billiard is a shape that is hard to perfect and even harder to improve on. In some senses it is the ur-shape as far as briars go, to the extent that the French gave it the lofty title of the Néogène, which might loosely be translated as “new beginning.” There have been countless iconic renditions over the last century and a half, and collectors of traditional Anglo-French briars each have their preferences as to which, or whose, is best. Rich Rosselli turns many a billiard for his Smith House make, typically in that same vein of the great 20th century factories (though Rosselli’s are completely handmade), but this example is a little different. One could situate it within a more contemporary current of Scandi-American billiards, of which Adam Davidson’s 2014 “Lorraine” is the exemplar and, to an extent, a turning point. Much like the Lorraine approach, Rosselli’s billiard is distinguished by a gentle, tapering figure that proceeds from the shank’s beginning to its end, continuing with its ebonite ferrule and mouthpiece, which is interrupted only by a slight flare at the stem’s base. This allows the pipe to be even more lightweight than a billiard would ordinarily be (in this case, less than an ounce), affords a little extra sturdiness, and gives the overall design some good, clean, and distinctive lines.

Details:

Length: 5.7″ / 144.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.75 / 19.05mm

Bowl Depth: 1.67″ / 42.41mm

Weight: 0.9oz / 26g