Rainer Barbi Smooth Straight Apple Estate Briar Pipe, German Estates

Description

Alongside near-contemporaries such as Otto Pollner and Karlheinz Joura, Rainer Barbi was one of the ‘grand old men’ of German artisan pipe-making. Beginning his career in the 1970s, Barbi was largely self-taught, but nevertheless managed to establish a reputation as one of the most talented freehand pipe carvers in the world. In his later years, Barbi would partner with companies such as Hilson, Brebbia, and [posthumously] Dan Pipe in order to offer series-produced pipes based on his own designs. Barbi passed away in 2011.

I will say, this short, almost nose-warmer length apple from the late Rainer Barbi is quite lovely. The bowl itself is quite ‘chubby,’ and as such I would call the overall design quite ‘German’ – though unlike most German pipes, this one is not chambered for filters. The sides of its bowl are covered in consistent, vertical straight grain, while the rim and underside are swimming in bird’s-eye patterns, which is just about as ideal as smooth hand-made pipes get. As a final touch, inlaid in the pipe’s ebonite stem is a ring of some variety of amber-hued material. Whether it is amber, cultured amber, or acrylic, I don’t know, but it looks beautiful.

The condition is great. There is a small nick in the finish on the bowl’s left side, and there is some minor inner rim darkening, but these are both superficial. It is remarkably well preserved.

 

Details:

Length: 5.25″ / 133.3mm

Bowl Width: 0.81 / 20.57mm

Bowl Depth: 1.33″ / 33.78mm

Weight: 1.6oz / 48g