2001 JT Cooke Sandblasted Rhodesian 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. As of 2024, and after five decades in the craft, Cooke has officially retired from pipe-making.

Though J.T. Cooke carved his first pipe in 1972, it was not until 1999 that he took up pipe-making full-time, leaving behind his other sources of work in pipe repairs and the estates business. With pipe-making his sole focus, he had the time needed to perfect those aspects of the craft that would usher in his status as an American pipe icon. This pipe, from 2001, immediately presents three things that came to be associated with Cooke’s work: the first and foremost is the sandblasting, which shows a masterful ability to bring out the ring grain on a shape that is by no means easy to pull this finish off on; the second is the shape itself, a stout yet supple rendition of the traditional Rhodesian; the last is a stem cut from one of Cooke’s own unique, hand-poured acrylic rods, inlaid with a taijitu.

The condition is great. Some rim darkening.

 

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.77 / 19.55mm

Bowl Depth: 1.7″ / 43.18mm

Weight: 3.3oz / 96g