Yang Kun Signature Grade XL Smooth Asymmetric Dublin w/ Horn Handmade Briar Pipe, New

Description

Over the past few decades, the world of pipes has grown exponentially, with artisans from ever more diverse backgrounds and locales emerging and thriving. But despite the differences in cultures that this expansion implicates, some things, it seems, are universal. Chinese pipe maker Yang Kun was an artist working in film and television until, one day, a friend showed him a book detailing the life and pipes of Sixten Ivarsson. In that moment, something clicked for Yang, in much the same way that countless individuals have been “awakened” upon an encounter with Ivarsson’s work. And, like so many others over the past 8 decades, Yang’s encounter moved him toward pipe making as a vocation.

In the years that followed, Yang immersed himself in artisan pipe making. He undertook an apprenticeship with Chinese master Hongjian Qiu, built a workshop of his own, and carefully studied the greats of pipe making, past and present. Sixten Ivarsson, Bo Nordh, Jorn Micke, Lars Ivarsson, S. Bang, and Jess Chonowitsch were sources of inspiration, but so too were Yang’s contemporaries in China, such as Ping Zhan, John He, and Sam Cui. In 2012, Yang took on a full-time career as a pipe maker, which he has remained for nearly 15 years, crafting high-grade briars in a shop overlooked by the mountains of Liuzhou.

Yang Kun’s pipes tend to be short and plump, taking on forms whose closest comparisons are those of Danish legends Jorn Micke and, to an extent, Jess Chonowitsch. And though one might not think it at first, this pipe is no exception to the Micke affinity. On the other hand, it is exceptional in other senses. At around 7 inches in length, it is far larger than is typical for Yang’s pipes, though its size is almost an afterthought in virtue of its shaping and grain. An asymmetrical Dublin with a right flank that opens up like a flower in bloom, the pipe’s bowl lays bare such tight patterning that its form might as well have disappeared into its filaments. What might otherwise strike as an unnecessary horn extension here instead serves to set off the bowl even more, raising the question of whether it or the briar is more densely and uniformly striated. As stated, it’s an exceptional piece, and as such it earned an exceptional grade—Yang’s highest, in fact, the Signature.

Details:

Length: 7″ / 177.8mm

Bowl Width: 0.79 / 20.06mm

Bowl Depth: 1.54″ / 39.11mm

Weight: 3.6oz / 104g