American Estates: Brad Pohlmann Sandblasted Bent Egg with Antler (2018) Tobacco Pipe

Brad Pohlmann's foray into pipe making is one filled with twists and turns, but begins properly in New York circa 1975, when Pohlmann returned from what he called a "pipe pilgrimage," traveling to London in order to visit the great tobacco shops of old, with a journey to Scotland to see the Rattray's factory at work. As the years passed, his travels did not cease, rather, he continued, traipsing across the United States and meeting with a myriad of pipe makers so that he could open his own tobacconist shop and sell high quality pipes. In his travels he met with makers such as Elliot Nachwalter, Finn Meyan Andersen, J.T. Cooke, and even visited the Briar Workshop, spending five years of this time working with Cooke, Nachwalter, and Jorg Jemelka to carve pipes and hone his abilities. In 1980 Pohlmann began a 4 year tool and die apprenticeship before starting a 16 year career in the computer industry, doing pipe repairs and making them for friends at odd intervals. In 2003 Pohlmann returned to his passion and began making pipes full time under his own name, almost 30 years after his journey began, taking all of the knowledge he had acquired before and using it to carve high quality artisan pieces such as this bent Egg.

A strikingly demure piece, this bent Egg's stem is incredibly gently curved, the half saddle configuration lending a bit of structure, but also keeping the lines of the pipe even and continuous. The stem meets a trim ring of antler at the shank end before flowing into the shank proper which is possessed of the slightest of bends upward, its oval shank giving the composition some visual dynamism before it leads into the slightly obtuse transition. The bowl is bulbous and quite large, fitting comfortably in the hand, and the heel that it sits on is sweeping, almost lifted, urging the visual weight of the bowl upward just a tad. The outline of this pipe features a continuous undercurve from the button to the rim, enhancing and magnifying the overall fluidity of the piece and giving the eye a clear direction to roam from end to end, taking in every detail of its construction. The stummel is dressed in a contrast stained sandblast that reveals undulating ring grain along the entirety of the bowl's surface, all striated with dark wisps of raised flame. Textural birdseye tops the shank, the look and feel contrasted by the smooth, chamfered rim, a composition that readily displays the talent of this storied artisan.