2002 JT Cooke Sandblasted Dunhill LC 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.

This particular Cooke is a little different to the ones we’ve had in recently, but the origin is much the same. We’ve had Cooke’s renditions of Dunhill’s “LB” (“large billiard”) and their “O” squat bulldog, and here we have another iconic Dunhill shape: the “LC.” This is not a shape that can be found in Dunhill’s current catalog, yet it is one that has achieved the status of a unicorn for collectors and a singular object of study by artisan pipe-makers. Debuting in the 1920s and all but falling out of production by the mid-century, LC shapes were tall and generally inordinately large quarter-bent billiards, with a profile that is sometimes referred to as a “swan neck.” Given Cooke’s affinity for the great English makes, and in particular the pipes produced by these makes in the first half of the 20th century, it should be no surprise that he would create his own homage to the LC. Made in 2002, this one features Cooke’s renowned ring grain sandblasting and a stem cut from his own hand-poured acrylic rods.

The condition is great. Some rim darkening and minor finish fading from previous handling.

 

Details:

Length: 7.2″ / 182.8mm

Bowl Width: 0.77 / 19.55mm

Bowl Depth: 2.36″ / 59.94mm

Weight: 3.4oz / 98g