Andrey Kharitonov Smooth Blowfish Handmade Briar Pipe, New

Description

Andrey Kharitonov is, to my eye, one of the most innovative artisans in pipe-making today. Born in 1961 in the former Soviet Union, Kharitonov’s work has been inspired by a number of his compatriots in the artisan scene, such as Victor Yashtylov, Misha Revyagin, and Alexey Kharmalov. Like the latter, Kharitonov frequently experiments with novel shapes, textures, and stains, creating pipes that are instantly recognizable as his making.

This particular pipe is one of Andrey Kharitonov’s impressively unique blowfish renditions. I’ve said before that there’s a fascinating, avant-garde streak to Andrey’s designs, with many of them being evocative of 20th century cubism. With this one, that’s even more apparent. While the blowfish is, historically, by no means a simple or symmetrical shape, this one employs the common motif in three-dimensional cubist objects (such as architecture and sculpture) of a multiplication of discrete surfaces, which can be seen in the way Andrey’s renditions tend to fold and unfold upon themselves. In this blowfish, there is another cubist—and more generally modernist—element of warping employed, which here is most notable in the pipe’s slightly twisting, asymmetrical shank. As with all Kharitonov pipes, this one includes a hand cut ebonite stem.

 

Details:

Length: 5.5″ / 139.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.77 / 19.55mm

Bowl Depth: 1.45″ / 36.83mm

Weight: 2.1oz / 60g