Description
■SOLD $642■
Todd Brugman Algerian Briar** Canted Chestnut With Rim & Limited Edition Vulcanite Swirl Stem
This is a one-of-a-kind pipe by our in-house pipe maker, Todd Brugman. It is amalgamation of various English shape chart elements and Brugman’s unique style and pipe shaping cues. 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 style, self-dubbed, “Americana.”
While Brugman begins from the classic English shape chart, he pushes in lots of new directions. This way, he can blend the distinctive and idiosyncratic, grounding the most unique pipes in the familiar. Technically contemporary, he is often described as “contemporary with a timeless aesthetic.”
Brugman’s “chestnut” shape started as his interpretation of the classic “Acorn,” inspired by a hyper-realistic Acorn Pipe a college of his, Nick Johnson had made, as well as a “freehand cutty” that Bob Peretti was known for making, and is one of Brugman’s most prized pipes.
His chestnut is like an acorn, yet has evolved into a unique shape of his. It like a Dublin with a centered spur that comes to a point. It often has a small calabash style rim (but not always) as seen here, allowing for a larger display of the rims birds-eye end-grain and enhancing the chestnut like stylization. He often renders them to be muscular and fairly short and squat, yet this one is only somewhat muscular; all in all, this rendition is average in shape and size, including the 3/4″ chamber (light in weight at only 36 grams), highly contemporary in its proportions, has some neo-classical Italian influence as one can see, yet is also clearly a Brugman and clearly carries an Americana aesthetic.
Brugman’s pipes are typically very light. This pipe is only 36 grams, and he displaced the weight by adjusting the fulcrum point by making it a bit shorter via the stem and adding a bend to the stem, therefore, it feel even lighter than it is; making it an easy and comfortable clencher with a standard yet somewhat tall chamber (group 3+). One can also see the nearly 360 degrees of near perfect staccato yet organically wavy straight-grain that compliments the birds-eye of the rim brilliantly. The way the pipes heel comes to a point showcases tight birds-eye transitioning from straight-grain, making the lay of the grain quite dynamic.
This pipe, Brugman complimented with a stem he hand cut from a limited edition 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 (the briar) 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.
He will often go on in length about “the best pipes need not more than briar and vulcanite (or other stem material) without any extra bands or flair…”, as he feels “they serve to distract… when a pipe is beautiful, I don’t want anything in the way…” A ‘less is more’ mentality in pipe design. Yet follows that up with loving pipes with horn, bands, etc.. and owning them in his own collection, as he says “…when I am speaking of what is proper in pipe design, I am only talking in regards to my approach; so it mostly only applies to me…”
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 and design (He has worked as both and industrial & graphic designer as well as artist/oil painter prior to focusing on pipe making, and is classically trained in the fine arts) from Rembrandt to Willem de Kooning and many mid 20th designers such as Raymond Loewy, have all equally, along with a long list of pipe makers and styles, influence his pipes and all his art, and continue to as he says that “I am forever a student of the arts… I never stop learning or pushing myself out of my comfort zone… growing in my work is the challenge that I love…”
Perfectly drilled and engineered, this pipe is as much a precision instrument as it is a work of art. Yet, “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 is most know for his ability to pull out the best and most dynamic grain for that pipe; letting the block of briar dictate the shape which he revels and adorns with his hand in his own way.
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″ (If you measure at the furthest point of the cant it is 5 1/4, but if you measure on the heel transition you get 4 3/4″)
Bowl Height: 2″
Chamber Diameter: 3/4″
Weight: 36 Grams
Materials: Algerian Briar & Vulcanite
Grade: dd
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. He still considers “dd” to be the higest (standard) grade, as “ddd” is so rare.
