Interesting Disovery about Briar Workshop Snowflake Logo

[pitchfork]

Anyone who has seen my posts on the forums knows that I'm a huge fan of Elliott Nachwalter and the Briar Workshop. So I just had to have this set, including pipe, bag and tube (all with the snowflake logo), from the 1970's/Stowe-era of the Briar Workshop. I also made an interesting discovery about the original snowflake logo.
When I first saw the snowflake logo pipe tube, I was very excited, but after looking at it a couple more times it struck me that I had seen that snowflake (or one like it) before. My oldest daughter is a huge fan of the book Snowflake Bentley(1998), a Caldecott winner by Jacqueliine Briggs Martin, which tells the story of Wilson Bentley (1865-1931), a native of Jericho, Vermont who was probably the first person to ever try to photograph snowflakes. His magnum opus and the culmination of his lifelong obsession with snowflakes is Snow Crystals(1931), which consists of 202 pages of photographic plates showing over 2,000 different snowflakes. Amazing book. In any case, the logo for the Briar Workshop is taken from a snowflake on p182 of Bentley's Snow Crystals. My daughter was very excited about the pipe and tube, but the best part is that my wife told me beforehand to "bid enough to make sure you win it." Were sweeter words were ever spoken? 8)

This is just a representative photo from Bentley's work, not the one used by Nachwalter.

 

[pitchfork]

Very nice pipe, and story. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks, happyjacks. I almost forgot to mention the pipe itself, which is a very standard freehand Dublin, the sort that Nachwalter has made hundreds of. But it's got a really nice snowflake logo on the stem!
Here's a pic of the pipe (from the seller). I've since fine sanded it a bit and polished it, but when it first came it seemed like someone had washed the stummel with a brillo pad or something.

 

[mlaug]

Kriswell is another pipemaker that used the snowflake symbol.

 

[ejames]

Interesting little bit of history. Thanks for posting that.

 

[flmason]

Beautiful pipe and I enjoyed learning the story of the snowflake. I hope you enjoy it for many years.

 

[pitchfork]

Thanks, flmason. I'm sure I will. Glad you enjoyed the story.
mlaug, how do you like your Kriswell? I've seen some interesting shapes from that line, but don't have any experience with them.

 

[mlaug]

That is the only one I have, so my experience is limited to it. Its drilled perfectly, has a nice stain, and the bowl is smallish (perfect for high N blends that usually beat me up).

 

[pitchfork]

Thanks for the clarity, rothnh, on Kriswell vs Kriswill. After posting earlier, it occurred to me that I was misspelling Kriswill as "Kriswell" -- but not so. Any idea about individual carvers who worked there?

 

[pitchfork]

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[pitchfork]

rothnh,
My understanding (just from a brief review of relevant websites) is that Krisw-e-ll pipes are by Nording and Krisw-i-ll are the original make. That seems to be corroborated by the ebay auctions showing older-looking, Danish modernist-style pipes marked "Kriswill."