Just picked up a Von Erck estate, it's a lovely looking pipe! From the nomenclature I believe it was the 56th pipe he carved in 2001, and looks like it may be a limited edition from the 7/10 stamp. Pretty excited to get it in my hands!
Lee's one of my favorite people to run into when I'm in Chicago...This was definitely an early one...Looks like he used a screw tenon of some type to join the shank extension to the shank- hard to tell from the picture...
Lee's pipes are my favorite artisan pipes. I've never had less than a fabulous smoke from any of mine. I suspect it's his knowledge and sourcing of wood, enhanced by his proprietary oil curing process and spot on drilling. Congratulations on your new acquisition!
You have your plans on what blends will shine in this pipe, but that tall deep bowl just cries out to me, "Tabac-Manil Semois!" That dry burley variant just shines in a tall narrow bowl, for those who have a taste for burley.
Cheers Sable, very much looking forward to trying it out. Maybe I'll get to meet Lee in Chicago one of these years.
Mso, I havne't had Semois in a couple of years but it might be time to get some! It does sound like it would be great in this bowl.
Lee's earlier work is humble but you can see the look that his spectacular pieces show these days. I got four of his fairly rustic pipes that I bought from him in the late 90's and early 2000's. One is a early Loon and one is when I had the first pick of the MAPS POY when he was starting to perfect his blasting technique. That early Loon has the same amber stem as your pipe and I've wanted him to inlay his abalone trademark in the stem since I bought it. 8O
That is a gorgeous blast! I heard back from Lee, he said my pipe is one of a limited run of 10 he did for himself back in 2001. Looking forward to taking it for a spin.