Description
■SOLD■ $675
Todd Brugman 2025 Pipe Of The Year Algerian Briar Compressed Squat Bulldog With Octagon Shank & Limited Edition Vulcanite Swirl Stem
Each year Brugman makes a “Pipe of the Year,” this is the one, and only, for 2025. He make a pipe in a shape and with shaping cues that define what he has been doing and exploring in his work for that year. This year he has been pushing the shaping cues for bulldogs and paneled pipes as well as wide chambers and squat bowls, and many other attributes that this pipe has, and has in spades!
For it to be “Pipe of the Year” is also has to be perfect in all regards. This pipe is graded his rarest graded “ddd,” “dd” is typically his highest grade, but only 3 times thus far has Brugman graded a pipe “ddd.”
This is made by LJ Peretti in house pipe maker and employee Todd Brugman. It is made 100% from the raw materials, by hand, in the LJ Peretti workshop, here in Boston. He only ever uses the highest of quality for materials, including the vulcanite.
His work all comes together creating unique and cohesive pipe designs. This is just one of Brugman’s many unique interpretations of English shape chart pipes incorporating English, Danish and Italian shaping cues in Brugman’s unique “Americana” style; there is clearly a strong yet very unique influence of neo-classical Italian shaping via English shape chart styles with his Danish influences being on the use of & understanding of grain rather than style and/or engineering. His approach, especially with a strong English influence, and many more of Brugman’s unique qualities such as the lack of rustication and more, is something not seen in his contemporaries. He can blend the distinctive and idiosyncratic, grounding the most unique pipes in the familiar. Though contemporary, by definition, he is often described as “contemporary with a timeless aesthetic,” truly anachronistic work.
Brugman states that famous art deco graphic and Industrial designer Raymond Loewy is a big influence on all his pipe design, and that can clearly been seen in this pipes shaping, especially in his recent work over the past year or so. Other big influences that can be seen in his work, as he will often state the early 20th century’s short lived Italian art movement “Futurism” especially “the work of Umberto Busoni…” Brugman has stated; and the influence of “Futurism” can be seen the most in pipes that he has panels on.
Every shaping and compositional decisions by Brugman is deliberate. “It is all by design…from the exact angle of the cant, the thickness and shape transition of the shank, to whether or not the shank has flat or rounded sides, the subtleties of the stain, roundness of any part of the work, the the most minuet subtlety is in the proportions…. “ and so much more.
This pipe, a “Compressed Squat Bulldog”, a traditionally English shape that is robust by design, is made with an extra squat, hence “compressed,” bowl and a shank that is an octagon with a clear delineation on each panel into the stem. Not only is the shaping of this squat bulldog, extra squat, the double bead line delineating the top and bottom of the bowl sit low, making it look even more squat, with perfect straight grain wrapping around the bottom half. The straight grain is complimented by loose birds-eye on the top half of the bowl and rim, and beautifully tight and perfect birds-eye on the bottom three panels of this pipe. The large diameter bowl has a good depth to it, and despite this very squat nature, the chamber has good depth with a thick heel. It all comes together in a cohesive manner making a pipe that is composed elegantly despite it clearly being a pipe with strong muscular lines.
This pipe of Brugman’s has a classic mid-century ‘Americana’ elegance, Is also clearly carries an otherwise ineffable contemporary qualities that are also timeless, making it anachronistic; and this, along with dynamic grain patterns and perfect engineering, is one of many things that people come to expect from a pipe made by Brugman.
At 5 inches and 34 grams, this pipe clenches easily and comfortably. It is a stunning pipe with strong muscular lines, and a sturdy construction. The chamber has a very wide bowl of 1″ diameter, allowing complex blends to be fully appreciated.
This pipe is all around engineered perfectly from the way the draft hole is drilled and aligned to the funneled stem, and so much more. The chamber size is about that of a Dunhill group 4 or 5 (right in-between a 4 and a 5).
All of Brugman’s shaping creates a composition that showcases a beautiful and cohesive pipe.
Brugman has become known for his ability to pull out the best and most dynamic grain for from each block he works with; letting the block of briar dictate the shape which he revels and adorns with his hand in his own way.
…the uniqueness of a pipes grain is what makes the folk art we call pipe making so brilliant, as a pipe is always a collaboration between myself, the pipe maker, and with nature as an artist.
This pipe, Brugman complimented with a stem he hand cut from a German vulcanite rod. He will use modern patterns/swirls in his pipes, but is very picky, as he never wants the stem to be louder than the stummel, he feel the should balance yet at the same time, the stummel should be the “star of the show.” He tends to pick neutral colors with an organic swirl pattern, that despite the intrinsic contemporary nature of many of the vulcanite (occasionally acrylic or juma) he uses, it still carries the timeless aesthetic that is so often mentioned when speaking of his work.
As one can see, Brugman clearly “paints with his own brush” when creating a pipe, or any work. He also states that the same fine artists that influenced him in his painting from Rembrandt to Willem de Kooning, have equally, along with a long list of pipe makers and styles, influence his pipes and all his art.
Perfectly drilled and engineered, this pipe is as much a precision instrument as it is a work of art.
…just as a painting is not a work of art until it is viewed, a pipe it is not a finished work until it is smoked. Therefore the last brush stroke is applied by its owner who will continue to paint it and enjoy it for life.
Brugman guarantees all of his work against defects for life.
Length: 5″
Bowl Height: 1 1/4″
Chamber Diameter: 1″
Weight: 34 Grams
Materials: Algerian Briar & Vulcanite
Grade: ddd aka “tripled d”
100% made in Boston, USA
Todd Brugman Grading System from Lowest to Highest/Best: T, O, d, dd
Grading is 90% based on the grain, and 10% based on the shaping in regards to difficulty and execution. Also, if there are inclusions in the briar (if there are, they aren’t flaws, just “inclusions” in Brugman’s words, otherwise he wouldn’t sell the pipe. Small black dot that may or may not recess ever so slightly into the pipe. Nothing is hidden, if they exist, one would see them, Brugman doesn’t hide them via fills or photography, he makes sure all angles of the pipe can been seen, he considers them part of the grain, natural) Those can effect the price and the grading. Grading is 100% Brugman’s opinion, as every pipe maker and brand grades differently based on what they view as “perfection.”
- Pipes are stamped “T Brugman” followed by the grade, on the left side of the shank. With “LJ Peretti Co” stamped on the right side of the shank. Sometimes all stamps can be on the same side or a different location if the pipe shape doesn’t allow the former.
- Brugman has introduced a new grade of “ddd” (tripped d) that is only used a couple times a year on pipe with perfect grain, perfect shaping, and zero inclusions.
