Wandi Riyadi Smooth Bamboo Billiard Handmade Briar Pipe, New

Description

Over the last decade or so, Indonesia has produced some impressive pipe-makers in the artisan scene. West Java’s Wandi Riyadi was one of the first to receive major international acclaim, inspiring many more of his compatriots to take up the craft – something that we at MBSD, having carried a couple of talented Indonesian artisans, know first hand. Riyadi’s work has been inspired by Scandinavinan masters, such as Sixten Ivarsson, Lars Ivarsson, Bo Nordh, and Jess Chonowitch, and the Japanese master Hiroyuki Tokutomi, a debt to the world of pipes that he has paid back by influencing younger generations of artisans, both at home and abroad.

Though I had not planned for it, it is quite the serendipity that MBSD started carrying both Xin Li and Wandi Riyadi within the space of a few weeks. Not only because they’re both exceptional carvers, but because Xin credits Riyadi with inspiring his own pipes (which, if we have any left, I recommend also checking out). This bamboo billiard is a wonderful example of the latter’s work, one that shows his craftsmanship and, next to his other creations, his versatility. It is a more traditionally inclined piece, though I imagine the inspiration came less from postwar American and English makes, such as Dunhill’s Whangee, than from the great Dane Sixten Ivarsson. Pencil shanked, meticulously cut, and perfectly balanced, it is far more reminiscent of the functionalist designs that the elder Ivarsson returned to time and again over his long career than any factory make.

 

Details:

Length: 5.5″ / 139.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.71 / 18.03mm

Bowl Depth: 1.59″ / 40.38mm

Weight: 1.1oz / 32g