Rolando Negoita Walnut Carved Oom Paul Estate Briar Pipe, American Estates

Description

Born in Romania, Rolando Negoita studied at the National University of Arts in Bucharest before moving to the United States, where he was a professor at the Parsons School of Design in New York. Negoita’s first forays into pipe-making began in what was then the Socialist Republic of Romania, due to impassible difficulties in acquiring them on the market. Negoita thus resolved to make his own. In America, Negoita continued to develop his pipe-making skills, assisted by figures such as Tom Eltang and Trever Talbert along the way. Though he was not born there, Negoita ultimately became one of America’s most renowned artisan pipe-makers, which he remained until his passing in 2021.

Part of what made Rolando Negoita’s pipes so fresh and exciting, and what subsequently garnered him so much acclaim, was the sheer variety of designs he created. The sources of inspiration for these designs were similarly vast and often highly unorthodox. This particular Negoita brings together three signature design elements from the Romanian-American artisan. The first is its shape, a strange re-imagining of the traditional Oom Paul, rendered so that the bowl almost looks as though it is some kind of flora or fauna “hanging” by its shank and stem. The second is its finish, hand carved to imitate the shell of the common walnut. The third is a sterling silver collar of Negoita’s own making, as he was not only a skilled woodworker but also a professor in the art of metalsmithing.

The condition is excellent. A small amount of inner rim darkening but the pipe is remarkably preserved.

 

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.78 / 19.81mm

Bowl Depth: 1.68″ / 42.67mm

Weight: 2.7oz / 78g