Michael Parks V.9 Sandblasted Volcano w/ Meteorite Estate Briar Pipe, Canadian Estates

Description

Michael Parks is an artisan pipe-maker from Canada. Parks is renowned for his high-grade pipes, as well as for his ability to create traditional and modern shapes, as well as sculptural pieces that further blend the line between smoking instruments and fine art.

As with a previous Michael Parks listing, I found this pipe to be so interesting that I just had to ask Michael himself about it. Unlike the last one, I could put a name to the shape – it’s a volcano, or at least, a very North American volcano, almost like those of Todd Johnson in the neighboring USA. The accents, on the other hand, I couldn’t really identify. Luckily, Mr Parks was happy to give plenty of history about this particular pipe which, if you’re reading this, Michael, I am eternally grateful for. Here’s what he said:

“Oom Vol – Seven (the name is a play on the names OomPaul and Volcano).
Pipe #521 in my chronology and completed in the year 2009, Grade V.
The stem is acrylic and the shank accent contains Imilac Meteorite with top and bottom Mammoth Ivory bands…

Around that time I did a number of these Full Bent Volcanos with unique shank accents.
They often contained unusual accent materials, for example one had shark’s teeth, another real gold leaf with tiny maple leaves, and so on.”

Mammoth, I might have guessed, but meteorite? That’s something else. Needless to say, this is a pretty special pipe. Regarding the grading, it’s a grade V, which at the time this one was made, was the second-highest Michael awarded to his pipes (a grade VII was introduced in 2012, before the grading system was completely overhauled in 2022).

The condition is excellent. As with the last Parks we listed, this pipe appears to have been “babied,” as they say, with an obvious great deal of care having been given to its preservation.

 

Details:

Length: 6.4″ / 162.5mm

Bowl Width: 0.75 / 19.05mm

Bowl Depth: 1.73″ / 43.94mm

Weight: 2.7oz / 78g