Mysteries of the Sphinx

Updated on Thursday, May 13, 2010 at 5:59PM by Neill Archer Roan

Updated on Friday, May 14, 2010 at 7:43AM by Neill Archer Roan

Sphinx by Alex Florov, Marble and Petrified Wood Stand by Martin Romijn. Image © 2010 Neill Archer Roan

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Of those inspired pipe shapes that have been invented over the last 25 years, none has fascinated me as much as the Sphinx, a shape created by the legendary Swedish pipe artisan, Bo Nordh. Someday, I hope to acquire a Nordh sphinx, though certainly both the availability of these pipes and the cost will stand as barriers.

Artisan Alex Florov, Image © 2010 Neill Archer RoanIn the meantime, I happily added the above-pictured Alex Florov sphinx to my collection at the last Chicago show. It was some three years ago that I learned that Alex shares my fascination with the Sphinx pipe shape. The one you see depicted above is the third sphinx that Florov has made. I had the opportunity to acquire the first, but the timing wasn’t right. The second is one of four astounding pipes (Ramses, Scarab, Sphinx, and Nefertiti) in an Egyptian set that Alex was commissioned to create by the New York collector, Eugene Smolar–a set that may be the most heartbreakingly beautiful pipe set that I have had the privilege to see. The third is now in my collection.

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An old-time documentary film on pipe-making at Charatan

Here is a wonderful old British Pathé video depicting the manufacture of Charatans. Thanks to Jack Howell for forwarding this to me.

Chicago Show 2010, Part 2

Quail Egg by Adam Davidson, Image © 2010 Neill Archer RoanShare

Like everyone else who goes to a pipe show, I only bring so much money with me. I don’t particularly want to spend it two days before the show officially opens. I’d like to be able to know all the options available to me. Unfortunately, artisans like Takeo Arita and Kei Gotoh don’t produce that much work, so if I want a piece by one of these artisans, it is important to carpe pipem, as it were.

Warren and I both bought Arita pipes. In my opinion, we acquired the best of what was available, though this opinion cannot help but reflect our taste. Unlike my Speeding Dublin, Warren chose a generously proportioned - beefy - Dublin with the kind of gravitas that one finds in a Lars Ivarsson. It’s a magnificent pipe. I only wish I could show pictures of it here.

Robert Lawing, Image © 2010 Neill Archer RoanUpon receiving a call from Robert Lawing advising me that John Crosby had just arrived in his room, I skedaddled back out to the Golf Wing. When one offers as much assistance to Planet Earth’s orbital integrity as my generously proportioned body does, skedaddling that far requires no little energy. Nevertheless, I put shoe leather to work and hied myself out to the far regions of the resort.

I wondered what the hilarious Mr. Crosby had managed to create for the show. I love those Crosby pipes that are in my collection. Among other virtues, John’s stem work is wonderfully comfortable and his pipes are sweet and consistent smokers.

While I was busy acquiring the Arita, I learned that Robert had been busy carpeing his first Crosby pipem, a wasp-like sandblast piece that cantilevered out from Robert’s jaw as if Santiago Calatrava had engineered it, himself. Robert and I have similar taste in pipes. If he hadn’t bought that pipe, I would have. I couldn’t help wondering as I looked through John’s case how many pipes were being snapped up in private case reviews throughout the resort?

Bamboo Poker by John Crosby, Image © 2010 Neill Archer RoanGood guy that he is, John made a little sandblast poker for me very much like the one you see depicted here - a pipe that I missed out on last year. He had given me a second chance at a pipe I really wanted.

I’ve been following John’s work for several years now. He surprised me this year as it became very obvious that the overall quality of John’s pipes spiked upward. While John’s stemwork has always been excellent, his shape vocabulary has been somewhat limited in past years. The pipes he brought this year revealed a much more diverse shape vocabulary.

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Chicago Show 2010, Part 1

Speeding Dublin by Takeo Arita, Image © 2010 Neill Archer Roan

Two Thursdays ago, I rose at 4:30 AM to make final preparations to leave for this year’s Chicago Show. Here in Washington, arriving two hours early for an 8:30 AM departure simply isn’t optional given baggage checking and security hassles so I rose to give myself enough time to finish my travel organization.

This was not a year that I traveled light. Since I had decided to document the show in photographs, I had to combine my travel briefcase and camera bag which is a complex undertaking. This is not to mention figuring out which pipes I would take to the show, a task that seems to take forever, but which ought to be simple and straightforward.

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The Chicago Show in Pictures

Updated on Thursday, May 6, 2010 at 10:15PM by Neill Archer Roan

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Early Monday morning, Jack Howell and I departed the Pheasant Run resort for O’Hare Airport and our flights to our respective homes. This year’s Chicago show was hard to see come to a close. It was a lot of fun and, as usual, there wasn’t nearly enough time to see and reconnect with friends and colleagues in the hobby.

This year I decided to focus on photographing people in the pipe community. Ours is a special little world, full of interesting and diverse personalities. People travel from around the globe to attend the Chicago show, and it is no wonder. Aside from showcasing literally tens of thousands of pipes, the show is an opportunity to get to know the world’s premiere artisans, to learn from the most knowledgable and active collectors, and to sample and discuss a wide variety of fine and vintage tobaccos.

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