Stephen Downie Smooth Bulldog w/ Privet & Morta Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

Description

A former film editor, Vancouver’s Stephen Downie is, along with figures such as Julius Vesz, Michael Parks, and Todd Bannard, yet more proof that what Canada lacks in quantity when it comes to pipe makers, it more than makes up for in sheer quality. A former film editor, Downie began making pipes in 2003, receiving valuable guidance from American artisans Mark Tinsky and Trever Talbert. Downie would soon make a name for himself not only as a craftsman of high-grade briars, but as someone who possessed a singular vision when it came to pipe design. Though his works often incorporate fantastical motifs not unlike those of his early mentor Trever Talbert, Downie’s pipes are nonetheless very difficult to mistake for anyone else’s.

The bulldog, for example, is one shape that Downie has periodically returned to throughout his career, but his approach to form and ornamentation always makes for a highly unique rendition. There are various Downie signatures at play in this one, from the bowl’s sloping cap, to its mobile, “flight”-like posture, to the layered, “ebony and ivory” accenting of the shank end (in this instance, by way of a ferrule cut from privet and morta, if my eyes don’t deceive me). It all makes for a beautiful pipe just beyond the margins of convention, and indeed a very much recognizable Downie creation. Within Downie’s own grading scheme, which runs, in ascending order of quality, from 5 to 1, this pipe attained a rare grade 2.

This pipe is completely unsmoked and comes with its original sleeve.

Details:

Length: 6.6″ / 139.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.81 / 22.86mm

Bowl Depth: 1.28″ / 31.75mm

Weight: 1.9oz / 52g