American Smoking Pipe Co., Curt Rollar Cavalier Estate Briar Pipe, American Estates [SOLD OUT]

Description

The American Smoking Pipe Company was founded in 1978 by artisans Mark Tinsky and Curt Rollar. Tinsky and Rollar’s venture was part of a new wave of North American hand made pipe making that emerged in the 1970s and ’80s, including artisan carvers such as Mike Butera, Tim West, Elliot Nachtwalter and Jorg Jemelka. Despite the name, American Smoking Pipe Co. was not a factory or large scale operation, but a simple pipe workshop and name shared between friends. Rollar departed the company in 1990, after which Tinsky remained at the reins into the 2000s, before selling his pipes under his own name.

While the American Smoking Pipe workshop was founded by Tinsky and Rollar, the latter only carved pipes for the make for around 12 years. As such, Curt Rollar’s pipes are quite hard to come by, and aren’t given up lightly. This pipe by Rollar gives a good indication of why. It is highly original, blending various design elements from Dunhill’s ‘swan neck’ LC shape, the Danish bent egg, and the traditional cavalier, and it is also remarkably well executed. It is certainly well ahead of its time; I’m familiar with this kind of ingenuity from American masters after the turn of the millennium, but seeing it two decades earlier was quite a shock, even for me.

Perhaps the only thing more remarkable than the pipe’s design is its condition. It is near-mint – I guess the most apt descriptor would be ‘pre-loved.’

 

Details:

Length: 6.6″ / 167.6mm

Bowl Width: 1.02 / 25.90mm

Bowl Depth: 1.85″ / 46.99mm

Weight: 4.1oz / 118g