Parallels in New Waves (Part Two)

[Bear Graves]

(continued)

Stepping back a minute, I looked at the generalized shaping on both sides of the pond, realized how damned similar they were, and how quickly the gulf that had previously separated their work was closing. (which kinda throws a monkey-wrench into my idea of placing the prefix of "American" or "German" in front of this emerging aesthetic).

Could this merge be the inevitable outcome of traditionally schooled individuals seeking to create something that is readily identifiable as "them", much as all architects receive similar instruction and then hit the world wanting to break molds in the similar manner of Mies Van de Rohe, Michael Graves and I.M. Pei that came before them? Could it be the internet, and the myriad of shaping ideas that are available with a single "click" and access to carvers forums?

OR, am I nuts? (don't answer that, it was rhetorical, everyone knows that I am an enchilada shy of a combo meal) and simply seeing something that isn't there?

Thoughts, impressions, corrections and flames heartily welcome. I really haven't thoroughly thought this out.

*Alex Florov I tend to set apart. His use of sculpting/chisel and file tend to create something quite different, and the man shows more influence from the Japanese masters than what I have seen in others work (just my gut reaction)

Da' Bear

[dmkerr]

I'm afraid I don't have the experience you have with newer pipe makers, and certainly not the plethora of pieces you have on hand. So the more things change, the more they stay the same? Perhaps.

Going into cranky old man mode, when I worked in a pipe shop, you had your choice of English pipes and traditional shapes. If you wanted a freehand, you bought a Charatan Distinction. If you wanted a Danish freehand, we sent you to the local Tinder Box who had all rights to Preben Holm (and Ben Wade, of course) and you bought a Crown. Or a Stanwell if you could find one. Or you bought a Wiley and pretended, if you chose not to go to TB. If you wanted German, you bought porcelain. Period. If somebody wanted something that wasn't English, we had Petersons. Oh, and a boatload of Tracy Mincers.

Then along came the Italians. They were hot sh*t! What's this weird sandblast? Oh, it's not a sandblast, it's a carving! Cool! So now you could buy Ser Jacopo, Castello, Caminetto, Radice and Ascorti in various "takes" on traditional shapes. Ok Ok, Castello, Caminetto and Savinelli had been around for years but they weren't nearly as popular. And if you wanted to be REALLY cool, you bought a Becker and you now had an "Austrian" pipe. And they were reasonably affordable. And you didn't have to forego the monthly car payment to buy a pre-transitional estate Barling to get a good smoke anymore. Nobody knew or cared about a fella named Ivarsson. Any of 'em!

Different carvers of today may be converging on a similar destination but if you're into artistic stylings, today is the Golden Age of Pipes. Believe it.

[Bear Graves]

Originally Posted by dmkerr

I'm afraid I don't have the experience you have with newer pipe makers, and certainly not the plethora of pieces you have on hand. So the more things change, the more they stay the same? Perhaps.

Going into cranky old man mode, when I worked in a pipe shop, you had your choice of English pipes and traditional shapes. If you wanted a freehand, you bought a Charatan Distinction. If you wanted a Danish freehand, we sent you to the local Tinder Box who had all rights to Preben Holm (and Ben Wade, of course) and you bought a Crown. Or a Stanwell if you could find one. Or you bought a Wiley and pretended, if you chose not to go to TB. If you wanted German, you bought porcelain. Period. If somebody wanted something that wasn't English, we had Petersons. Oh, and a boatload of Tracy Mincers.

Then along came the Italians. They were hot sh*t! What's this weird sandblast? Oh, it's not a sandblast, it's a carving! Cool! So now you could buy Ser Jacopo, Castello, Caminetto, Radice and Ascorti in various "takes" on traditional shapes. Ok Ok, Castello, Caminetto and Savinelli had been around for years but they weren't nearly as popular. And if you wanted to be REALLY cool, you bought a Becker and you now had an "Austrian" pipe. And they were reasonably affordable. And you didn't have to forego the monthly car payment to buy a pre-transitional estate Barling to get a good smoke anymore. Nobody knew or cared about a fella named Ivarsson. Any of 'em!

Different carvers of today may be converging on a similar destination but if you're into artistic stylings, today is the Golden Age of Pipes. Believe it.

I started smoking a pipe in '74 and became pretty serious about it by '77. I think the zeitgeist of the period of my start up was probably pretty close, with a smidge more awareness of something (not that me or any of my familiars knew exactly what) was starting to be of interest to more affluent US pipers in Denmark.

Castellos had always been a stone bitch to get a hold of and Caminetto seemed to simply add additional Italian sales, with precious little freeing up of the former. I thought the GBDs were great, a Savinelli Non Pareil was something to aspire to and everyone stood in awe at the Charatan Suma Cum Laude pipes ("The most expensive pipe in the world!").

Kind of reminds me of an Eddie Izzard quote: "...and we went into what the historians called the Stupid F*cker period. Where everyone was going -"er, I dunno. Is that a Roman road? Can we eat it?"

Yeah, I really subscribe to the "golden age of pipe smoking is now" thinking as well.

Regards,

Da' Bear

[dmkerr]

When I got into pipes, I found that my dad had an old Castello Sea Rock that he no longer smoked. Small wonder, as it would have been difficult to get a stickpin into the bowl for all the cake. The cake was the easy part. Ever try to shine up a Sea Rock that had spent most of its existence mired in week old pipe ashes? That thing smoked like a dream but always looked like 3 day old roadkill. Thus began my love affair with Castellos.

Rather than the Non-Pareils, we were all bonered up over the Guibleo D'Oro. Why? Because it looked like an English pipe!

On a side note, the pipesmoking worlds love of Sobranie White and 759 are not mental manufactures of foregone fruit. I sold literally tons of tins. Conversely, I couldn't give away a tin of #10.

I saw a Summa Cum Laude up close once. I wouldn't have smoked it without a neck brace/holder but it was gorgeous.

Yeah, I'll take the choices of today over those of yesterday. Sure, I miss Lane era Charatans, $180 Beckers and Ashton-by-way-of-McConnells tobacco. But as I said and you already know, there's so much more out there now!