Bamboozled

From top: Chestnut by Jess Chonowitsch, Chestnut by Jess Chonowitsch, Apple by Michael Lindner, Pot by Jess Chonowitsch, Raindrop by Yuki TokutumiHere in Northern Virginia’s mild Atlantic climate, if you plant bamboo in our fertile soils it will thrive like a native grass. You’ll have a dickens of a time ridding yourself of it once it has established itself.

Vigorous and aggressive, it is said that bamboo groves grow so quickly in some climes that if you were to listen inside a quiet grove that you could literally hear its crackling growth. It just takes over.

It would seem that bamboo is as capable of taking root and thriving in a pipe collection as it is in the soil. While it hasn’t started crowding out the rest of my collection, I wonder if it might happen someday. My bamboo and briar companions are among my very favorite pipes. They are like women whose charm, character, and personality combine to make them irresistible - the kind that the longer you look at and touch them, the more beautiful they become.

A particular favorite pipe in my rotation is the little spaghetti bamboo pictured at the top of this post from the American artisan Adam Davidson. Its sandblasted walls, though thin, stay eerily cool and its thin, comfortable bit makes the pipe feel as natural as my very own teeth. My wonderful experience with this pipe led me to purchase both the black bamboo cherrywood and the smooth, bamboo pot pictured below. It may surprise you to know that I haven’t always liked bamboo pipes very much. Early on, I didn’t like them at all.

I remember my first encounters with bamboo-shanked pipes. Their scarred, knobby, and fibrous shank-scapes seemed awkwardly ill-conceived, like somebody tried to graft a cottonwood branch onto a magnolia tree. Worse, the more mesmerizing the briar grains were, the more out-of-place the bamboo seemed. With apologies to George Gobel, bamboo and briar seemed like brown shoes in a world of tuxedos.

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Pete Prevost on the Rise.

Early last week while I was in Boston, Nashville-area pipe maker Bruce Weaver wrote to tell me and fellow collector Warren Wigutow that Pete Prevost would be in Washington later in the week and asked if we might be available to meet him. Even though I have been buried in work as of late, I was intrigued.

Shortly after my arrival back in Washington, Warren called to make plans to reconnoiter with Pete for lunch and a bowl on Thursday at our Old Virginia Tobacco Company haunt.

I have been hearing about Pete Prevost for awhile now. I still remember my first encounter with his name.

I am a member and frequenter of a pipe-collecting forum where, on occasion, members will post pictures of pipes then ask the rest of us who made them. It’s a fun game, but is also sometimes an exasperating exercise because some pretty obscure work is displayed for identification.

Pete Prevost Bent BrandyOn this particular occasion, pipe maker and forum member Todd Johnson posted a series of pipe pictures (you see a couple here at right) - including a boxed set of smooth pipes - for the rest of us to try and identify the maker. He upped the ante by making the following promise: “Alright folks, if you can guess it, I’ll give you a $1000 credit toward the purchase of a pipe.”

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Scott Thile's Journey

Last month, when I was at the Kansas City Pipe and Tobacco Show, I purchased one new pipe: a square -shanked smooth bent egg by American artisan Scott Thile. Over the years, I’ve enjoyed getting to know Scott while watching his pipe-making skills develop.

When I walked up to Scott’s table, it was immediately apparent that his work had markedly improved. There were several very nice pipes on his table, most of them smaller, lighter, and with more sophisticated shapes than I had heretofore seen from him.

The quality of the finish work, especially Scott’s contrast staining, struck me as particularly attractive. Contrast staining can sometimes produce a slight gaudiness, but Scott’s stains were subtle and restrained. They enriched the briar grain without unduly distracting from the whole.

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The Streamliner Blowfish

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The Origins of the Commission

Todd Johnson’s first Art Deco Blowfish, Photo by Todd JohnsonEarly last November I was surfing the web looking at various pipe sites when I stumbled across the Deco Blowfish (pictured at right) that had recently been made by Todd Johnson. I must have spent a half hour poring over that pipe.

I’m rarely an impulsive pipe-buyer. As a matter of fact, I drive sellers and makers crazy with my wishy-washy, indecisive ways when I’m considering buying a pipe. I’ve wondered at times why I get buyer’s remorse before buying a pipe, but that’s another post. Suffice it to say that more than one artisan has grumbled about this with good reason.

Todd Johnson’s first Art Deco Blowfish, Photo by Todd Johnson

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