Blog Posts

As the new year begins, I thought I’d offer a glance back at 2015’s “Sweet Petes” – pipes that have struck a chord with me for one reason or another, or say something special about Peterson pipes, both past and present. It seems the more I study Peterson pipes, the less interesting I find other design aesthetics. Everyone pipeman has a different sensibility, of course, but mine seems to have something to do with what I’ll call design ipseity, by which I mean the essential element the pipe-maker (whether an individual or a workshop) expresses in his or her pipes as a mark of identification. This is more than a logo, a stamp, a particular finish or a shape. It has to do with an entire design language— shapes, stains, materials, design templates, whatever you want to call it—that readily identify the maker in an aesthetically pleasing way. If you were fortunate enough to get a copy of Neill Archer Roan’s Comoy’s Blue Riband, you will immediately get a sense of what I mean—Comoy’s articulated a precise vision in this line of pipes. Again, if you know the work of Italian artisan Claudio Cavicchi, you’ll shake your head knowingly: his aesthetic is very geometrical, his proportions larger than other pipe makers, and his expressions in briar quite consistent. Contrariwise, I can kindle little interest in most of the current wave of artisans who simply have no “voice” of their own, but only copy whatever is in vogue. know exactly what I mean. His pipes are instantly recognizable. Contrariwise, an artisan or pipe-maker that lacks such an articulate design language seems anonymous and impersonal to me. What is so amazing to me, often on a daily basis, is how Charles Peterson began back in the 1890s with a few basic design principles, with form following function (as I believe it always should) and his company used these ideas as a foundation to create and sustain a design architecture that allows for continual renewal and growth. More about this in the book—but for now, I hope you enjoy a dozen of my favorite Petes from the past year or so. I. The Elusive Founder's Edition FE Sandblast The Founder's Edition Oom Paul s has to be near the top of every Pete Nut’s list for 2015. I’ve been wanting a birdseye P-Lip FE since I saw the first pictures more than a year ago. Still don’t have one, and it doesn’t look like I’m ever going to find one. I thought I had one in the bag, but somewhere along the way the bag developed a hole.  “You can’t always get what you want,” as Mick and the boys used to sing, “but sometimes you get what you need,” and so I hasten to add that I have no cause for complaint, because a thoughtful friend did send me a marvelous black sandblast P-Lip.* The Oom Paul has a long and distinguished career in the Peterson catalog, and it’s a shame the…