Old Nellie Rusticated Reverse Volcano, Estate Briar Pipe, American Estates [SOLD]

Description

Wisconsin’s Joe Nelson was, at various times in his life, a carpenter, a cabinet maker, and a luthier. In 2005, with several decades’ worth of experience in woodworking under his belt, he also began carving his own tobacco pipes. A visit to the 2006 Chicago Pipe Show confirmed for Nelson that pipe-making was to be his new vocation, one pursued alongside his career in lutherie. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Nelson applied not only the same technical expertise involved in the construction of Nelson Guitars to his “Old Nellie” pipes, but also many of the same materials, including sterling silver and mother of pearl.

This happens to be the first Old Nellie that I’ve personally handled, but it’s one that I recognized almost immediately. Though I’d never gotten to experience one up close before, I’d seen pipes just like this one creating a buzz on pipe forums around a decade ago. In fact, this was a signature shape of Joe Nelson’s, dubbed the “reverse volcano”; like the volcanoes of certain other artisan carvers, the pipe’s bowl section is marked by both a gradual, sloping transition from its wide base to its narrower rim, and also a sharp angularity, especially as skirts the base just mentioned; unlike other carvers, the broader curvature of Nelson’s shape follows a single arc from the very front of its base to the button of the stem. The briar used for this particular reverse volcano was oil cured during the pipe’s manufacture (as indicated by its “OC” stamping), before being given a rusticated (“R”) finish.

The condition is excellent. I note a small amount of inner rim darkening on the bowl’s left side, but the pipe is otherwise pristine.

Details:

Length: 5.2″ / 132.0mm

Bowl Width: 0.79 / 20.06mm

Bowl Depth: 1.0″ / 25.40mm

Weight: 1.4oz / 42g