JT Cooke Smooth Bent Billiard w/ Shell Mount Estate Briar Pipe, American Estates

Description

J.T. Cooke is a Vermont-based American artisan carver with a number of impressive credentials under his belt. Cooke was originally based at Elliot Nachtwalter and Jeorg Jemelka’s The Briar Workshop, in a role which included making pipes for Wilke’s tobacconist in Philadelphia. After leaving the Workshop, Cooke collaborated with Barry Levin in establishing the estate pipes market as we know it, by restoring pipes for Levin’s outfit. During this time, Cooke would also begin to make pipes under his own name. Today, Cooke’s pipes are among the most sought after in the American artisan scene thanks to their distinct and often unparalleled shaping, engineering, and finishing. After 50 years in the craft, Cooke retired from pipe-making in 2024.

While J.T. Cooke is renowned for his sandblasted pipes, he was no less skilled at pulling off smooth finishes. And while he leaned towards the classic shapes of English pipe-making, he had his own ways of giving them a distinctly American twist. This particular Cooke exemplifies his work on both points. The bowl is impressive both in the uniformity of its straight grain and in the contrast stain applied, the latter being highly reminiscent of Charatan’s Distinction grade pipes. The pipe is also an army mount design, though one that leans even closer to its military roots through the use of a 20 gauge shell ferrule. As this pipe comes from the beginnings of Cooke’s later career, the stem is cut from one of his own hand-poured acrylic rods, inlaid with his taijitu logo, and fitted with a Delrin tenon.

The condition is near-mint. I’m not entirely sure if the pipe is pre-smoked or unsmoked. If it has been smoked, it can’t have been more than once or twice. I’m pricing it as the latter, just in case.

 

Details:

Length: 5.8″ / 147.3mm

Bowl Width: 0.82 / 20.82mm

Bowl Depth: 1.76″ / 44.70mm

Weight: 2.3oz / 66g