Description
Cavalier Smooth Cross Grain With Cumberland Stem & Plug
This is a one-of-a-kind pipe by our full time in-house master pipe maker here at LJ Peretti co., Todd Brugman. It is made 100% from the raw materials, by hand, in the LJ Peretti workshop, here in Boston.
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.”
Here Brugman makes his own rendition of one of the most unique classic pipe shapes, in both the visual shaping as well as the internal engineering. It is clearly a Cavalier, yet the nuanced contemporary shaping cues of Brugman’s are present, such as the tapered shank, that, in this case extends to the foot of the pipe, allowing it to stand easily. The bottom plug, for the cooling chamber, is removable, therefore this is a functional cavalier.
A Cavalier functions similar to a calabash or a system pipe. the draft hole bypasses the tobacco chamber, and extends all the way down and into the cooling chamber at the foot of the pipe. The cooling chamber, which will also be a moister trap, has a draft hole that extends to the bottom center of the tobacco chamber (see diagram illustration. Note: the diagram isn’t made to scale or proper proportion)
The elegance is heightened via shaping cues he implemented such as having the shank taper thin at the stem connection, where it then flairs out to be a very comfortable width for clenching. The cross grain works perfectly with this shape, showcasing beautiful birds eye grain on the front of the bowl and along and up the entire back of the shank.
The bottom plug (as well as the stem) can be easily removed via a tenon-mortice connection for easy and proper cleaning The bottom plug leaves room for a proper cavalier cooling chamber.
Due to this technically, engineeringly speaking, the deepest bend a pipe can have with a vertical shank, also it being fairly light for it’s size and shape, the pipe will clench very comfortably. This pipe will also stand/sit easily and perfectly.
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. 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 guarantees all of his work against defects for life.
5 7/8″ tall, 2 1/8 ” tall bowl (measured from center of bowl, following the center of the chamber at the proper angle, to the back the shank), stummel width (back of the shank to the furthest point on the bowl) 2 1/8″, total width (from the end of the stem to the farther point in the other direction on the bowl)
Weight: 56 Grams
Materials: Briar & Limited Edition German SEM Vulcanite
Grade: dd
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
Pipes are stamped “T Brugman” followed by the grade on the left side of the shank, and “LJ Peretti Co” on the right side of the shank
