A Name For The Movement/Style of Young American Pipe Carvers

[Dock]

It seems that most of the intrest around pipes today is centered around a new crop of American pipe carvers.These are'nt your Dad's Kaywoodies,Fishers and Bertrams! Young guns like Howell,Davidson and Purdy seem to be in the spotlight now a days and are redefining what an American made pipe is all about!.These guys are young talented and inovative.My question is, what do we call them and their movement?

Best,
D.J.

 

[Anonymous]

American freehand movement?

 

[Puff Daddy]

Have to add Jeff Gracik, Scott Anderson, Adam Davidson, Brad Pohlman, all wonderfully talented as well. I'm inclined to see them as "Evolutionaries", as they seem to take the best ideas, engineering and styles from so many different genres and regions and meld them into a cohesive style all their own. They seem to share the benefits of the same melting pot, so there must be a common denominator, a shared perspective that produces a viable style derived from but different than the sources.

 

[Dock]

"The American Evolutionaries"! That's got a ring to it Jim!


Best,
D.J.

 

[hazmat]

Just playing devil's advocate here, but do they NEED a name placed on their style other than American? It seems to stand alone from every other style across the world in several ways. For instance, if you say to me "American carver" and stop right there, I immediately envision Jody Davis pipes or Mark Tinsky or Rad Davis or...... you get the point, I think.

 

[Dock]

do they NEED a name placed on their style other than American?

It's just a fun/interesting thing to discuss. Nothing more....

Best,
D.J.

 

[Ol'Dawg]

My question or thought is "What do you consider young?". To me that is a relative term. For example Rad Davis is young to me; on the other hand you probably consider him old.

Jim

 

[regor]

Nobody has mentioned Roush yet. He is another darn good one :cheers: :cyclops: :sunny: :sunny: :sunny:

 

[LL]

Let's see...

Until the late 70's-early 80's, a "good pipe" meant it came from England with few exceptions. Charatan, GBD, Dunhill, etc. French pipes were (and still are, pretty much) considered tradition-bound and value oriented. The Scandinavian companies were fairly one-note, and tended toward a factory mindeset (Larsen and Stanwell), the same as the Brits. American carvers were few and far between, and not highly regarded in general (though smokers in the know just laughed and stocked up.) Italian pipes mostly stayed in Europe, with the exception of Savinelli.

What changed? The MegaTalent working at the best of the Scandinavian shops broke away to test the limits of the possible, as individuals under their own name, and succeeded spectacularly. Some of the best of that group are still at it and their work regarded as Planet Earth's high water mark for "art pipe" craftsmanship and design. Though not all, MOST of this group came out of Denmark.

Then came a batch of carvers who were inspired by that new aesthetic. Germans, Americans, Swedes, Italians, you name it. Nationality didn't matter. Age didn't either, only the reason they got into pipe carving. Rad Davis for example, is in his 50's. Karlo Joura is in his 60's. The list of names is long. (No need to catalog them here because everyone knows who they are, and it is naming the group that's the point of the thread.)

Without exception, the reason was that "art pipes" had proved to be a legitimate concept, and had a ready market. Had such a proof of concept never come along, it is doubtful these same people would have gone to work in a pipe factory.

Following the naming custom of art and music movements, then, only one label fits: Post Danish

 

[Justpipes]

How about just American pipe carvers?.............

 

[vaperfavour]

I rather like POST DANISH.

 

[Dock]

How about just American pipe carvers?.............

Because it's so MUCH more than that Mark! The "American Style" is unique and set apart from anything else that's being done. If you think of an English pipe your mind likely travels to the classic/standard shapes produced by Dunhill and Ashton. If you think of the Danish style you likely think of stellar grain,bamboo shanks and the canted egg made by Jess Chonowitsch,S.Bang and Poul Ilsted. Japan has it's own aesthetics too. Generally their pipes are more organic in nature and take cues from the Danes without copying them outright.

The Americans have their own distinct style as wll. A quick look on the websites of Jeff Gracik,Will Purdy,Rad Davis,Skip Elliott and Jack Howell for a few examples show it at it's best.

It's a movement., not just a general term used to describe American men who carve pipes....

Best,
D.P.

 

[Dock]

Let's see...

Until the late 70's-early 80's, a "good pipe" meant it came from England with few exceptions. Charatan, GBD, Dunhill, etc. French pipes were (and still are, pretty much) considered tradition-bound and value oriented. The Scandinavian companies were fairly one-note, and tended toward a factory mindeset (Larsen and Stanwell), the same as the Brits. American carvers were few and far between, and not highly regarded in general (though smokers in the know just laughed and stocked up.) Italian pipes pretty much stayed in Europe, with the exception of Savinelli.

What changed? The MegaTalent at the best of those Scandinavian shops broke away to test the limits of the possible, and succeeded spectacularly. Some of the best of that bunch are still at it and their work regarded as Planet Earth's high water mark for "art pipe" craftsmanship and design. Though not all, MOST of this group came out of Denmark.

Then came a batch of carvers who were inspired by that new aesthetic. Germans, Americans, Swedish, Italians, you name it. Nationality doesn't matter. Age doesn't either, only the reason they got into pipe carving. Rad Davis for example, is in his 50's. Karlo Joura is in his 60's) The list is long. No need for me to list them because everyone knows who they are. It is naming the group that's the point of the thread.

Without exception, that reason is/was that "art pipes" had proved to be a legitimate concept, with a ready market. Had such a proof of concept never come along, it is doubtful these same people would have gone to work in a pipe factory.

Following the naming custom of art and music movements, then, only one label fits: Post Danish

How about "American Post Danish"?.....

D.J.

 

[LL]

How about "American Post Danish"?.....

Bingo. If you want to subdivide the group by nationality, there's no better way to do it.

The main exceptions would be Americans like Ron Fairchild who carve only standard shapes in the English tradition.

 

[dad-d-o]

North American Artists of Briar -- NAAOB
New World Masters of Briar Craftsmen -- NWMOBC
North American Masters of Briar Crafters -- NAMOBC
Wizardly Tobacco Filter Artists -- WTF Artists

:king: Whatever you decide to call them, they sure have taken Tecumseh's peace pipe to new heights.
David

 

[Mikem]

I thought about this for the last day or so and I kind of disagree with the "American" post anything. Do we really hear about the "Italian" post Danish, "German" post Danish. They all IMHO have their own styles. I believe this is the same with the American carvers. Is there American carvers who carve in the Danish tradition, you bet, but so are some Italian, Swedish and German carvers. I think a lot of American carvers have their own style. To me it "is" more of an American Movement just for the simple fact that you are getting more and more high quality American carvers out there compared to years gone by when the vast majority of well known carvers who were setting the standard were Danish or Italian. Just my two cents worth.

 

[Bub]

We can always go back a few months and ask our good friend Neill:
http://web.mac.com/neillarcherroan/A_Passion_for_Pipes/Blog/Entries/2007/12/30_The_North_American_Aesthetic.html
Bub

 

[Mikem]

Very interesting blog on the subject. Thanks for posting the link.

 

[Winslow]

They could be called "Los Gringos".

Winslow

 

[Lawyersmoker]

By the way, anyone know who 'LMF California' is ?