The Art of the Pipe

Gandorr, from the "Lord of the Pipes" collection (© Jan Zeman)

If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, which I will not dispute, then it's not hard to believe that a person could consider pipes an art form. Granted, some are strictly utilitarian and may get the job done rather well, yet fall short in the area of esthetics. We pipe smokers can appreciate a nice looking pipe though. How else could you account for the endless variety of shapes? Some have cataloged the general pipe shapes. Depending on who the codifier is, you will usually end up with a list of some 40-50 shapes. Then you have the freehand pipes, which adds an infinite array of other shapes, these only limited by the imagination of the carver. Art and creativity is alive and well in the realm of pipe carvers.

Thorrin, another "Lord of the Pipes" pipe (© Jan Zeman)

There are a couple of carvers whose work I greatly admire. One is my friend and a fellow Texan, Tyler Beard, who I mentioned in the previous post (Tyler now lives in Oklahoma). His pipes have been uncommonly nice and unique, given the number of custom pipes out there. There is another fellow whose work I have also greatly admired. He is from Nelson, New Zealand and his name is Jan Zeman.

 Jan has carved many pipes, and they're all uncommonly beautiful. Yet it's one of his freehand lines that really impressed me. His "Lord of the Pipes" series contained two pipes that I believe to be the most impressive designs he has, as I've not seen anything remotely like them. These two are pictured here, along with one from his "Old Sea Dog" line.

Mary Celeste, from the "Old Sea Dog" collection (© Jan Zeman)

Jan uses quality briar to make his pipes, and they show it. Stems will be from quality Cumberland vulcanite or Lucite/acrylic. One highlight that you see on many of Jan's pipes is custom accents on the stem/shank. Some are metallic (brass or silver), yet others will be made from unique substances or woods including greenstone, acrylic, palmwood and perhaps many other substances that I am unaware of. He has also fitted some of his pipes with bamboo shanks, something that Tyler has also done to impressive affect.

There are not many pipes I long to have in my collection, yet a Jan Zeman pipe would be at the top of the list. I also hope to one day own a bent saucer from the hand of Mr. Beard, yet he's assured me that I should be the one to make that pipe. Perhaps, someday, my friend. Perhaps someday.