Sebastian Heck Sandblasted Squat Tomato Handmade Briar Pipe, New

Description

Sebastian Heck is part of younger generation of highly skilled artisans to have emerged from Germany in recent years. Based in Heidelberg, Heck took up pipe smoking—and, ultimately, pipe-making—as part of a conscious effort toward slowing down in an otherwise constantly accelerating modern world. Like many pipe-makers, Heck took his first steps into the craft as a restorer of estate and heirloom pieces, which in time brought with it an expansion of his workshop and the tools housed within it. With this as a base, creating new pipes of his own was a natural progression. Heck’s development has been greatly influenced by the Danish and German schools of pipe design, and has included time spent learning directly from fellow German artisans, such as Dirk Heinemann.

While the tomato has its origins in some of the earliest briar pipes, it was not until the post-war period that the shape—to paraphrase Nietzsche—became what it is. A departure from traditional factory methods toward a more flexible form of hand-shaping allowed the tomato to grow and fill out into the stout, squat, and slightly chubby artisan staple we know and love today. This one, from German artisan Sebastian Heck, is a little reminiscent of the renowned tomatoes of Jens Tao Nielsen, Roman “Doctor’s Pipes” Kovalev, or Clark Layton though its minimalism is perhaps best compared to the early squat shapes of Sixten Ivarsson and his apprentice Poul Hansen. On the other hand, Heck makes a clear departure from each of his forebears by way of a striking and highly enjoyable contrasting color scheme. Here Heck has paired a wonderfully craggy sandblast and a light, orange-brown stain with a stem hand cut from marine swirl German ebonite.

 

Details:

Length: 5″ / 127.0mm

Bowl Width: 0.70 / 17.78mm

Bowl Depth: 1.0″ / 25.40mm

Weight: 1.7oz / 50g