Andrey Kharitonov Bent Brandy Handmade Estate Briar Pipe, Other Estates

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.

The history of pipe-making is replete with innovations that blur previously established lines. Post-war designs that hybridized standard shapes is one example, the invention of balsa wood filter systems is another. Andrey Kharitonov’s work has been part of a more recent tradition, which counts figures as diverse as Anne Julie, Alexey Kharmalov, and Roger Wallenstein among its most prominent contributors. This tradition concerns finishes, and more specifically the blurring of lines between received categories of finish. For example, would we call Julie’s floral pipes smooth or rusticated? What about Wallenstein’s signature Driftwood pipes? Both are made from briar, but both resist the conventional sorting mechanisms through which we differentiate types of pipes. Andrey Kharitonov is another pipe-maker whose work resists these mechanisms. This pipe, for example, could be categorized as “rusticated,” given that it has been carved using a scooping method not unlike Peterson’s house style. On the other hand, is aesthetically rustic, creating an aleatory, weathered look. Kharitonov’s rustication tends to be consistent, ordered, and precise, with the result being a sense of depth and a patterning closer to that of meerschaum carving. But we don’t typically call meerschaum latticework a form of “rustication.” Perhaps we need new categories, though these are things that typically take years to sediment in the popular imagination. For now, I suppose “rustication” will have to do—just with a few caveats. As such, this very striking rusticated Kharitonov brandy also features a horn ferrule and an atypically colorful, hand-cut ebonite stem, something Kharitonov has also become known for.

-J.M.

The condition is very good. There is a little wear to the horn ferrule and some discoloration of the finish, but nothing major.

 

Details:

Length: 5″ / 127.0mm

Bowl Width: 0.76 / 19.30mm

Bowl Depth: 1.47″ / 37.33mm

Weight: 2.1oz / 62g