Description
Todd Brugman Liverpool With Limited Edition Handmade Vulcanite Stem
This is a one-of-a-kind pipe by our in-house pipe maker, 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. This particular vulcanite is 100% handmade by vulcanite artisan Anton Wewecz, then drilled and shaped by Brugman.
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. 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.”
It is amalgamation of various English shape chart elements and Brugman’s unique style and pipe shaping cues. Seen here is a blend between a contemporary art deco take on the “Liverpool” shape (part of the Canadian family of pipes. In the “Canadian family of pipes, the all have a shank that is 1.5 to 2 times the height of the bowl with a short stem. As long as they fit those shank/stem to bowl height proportions, then you have 4 shapes. The Canadian Canadian is an oval shank with tapered stem, the lumberman is oval shank with saddle stem, the lovat is a round shank with saddle stem, and the Liverpool, seen here, is a round shank with tapered stem..)
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. He kept made the bowl slightly egg shaped, yet with sharp and deliberate transitions from the heel bottom with a bevel, the way the shank meets the bowl, the continuous taper of the shank and many more of his shaping cues that make this pipe have a mid 20th century aesthetic, unique, timeless, and dynamic. There is clear beautiful seamless continuity in this pipes design that is works with the wispy grain that encompasses 70% or so of the bowl.
This pipe of Brugman’s still retains the classic Liverpool look and feel; so it is contemporary, yet also carries an elegant & timeless quality; a quality one has come to expect from a pipe made by Brugman.
The pipe has a very slight forward cant, just enough to enhance the engineering, allowing for a more even burning pipe and a thicker heel. The cant also allows the composition of this pipe to flow smoothly, giving it a classic elegance when one is smoking it; that classic Americana silhouette can be seen and felt when this pipe is clenched.
This pipe will clench easily and comfortably with it being very light in weight for its size at only 41 grams. It properly thick heel, thick walls, and it all around engineered perfectly from the way the draft hole meet the chamber to the perfectly funneled stem. The chamber size is about that of a Dunhill group 4.
All of Brugman’s shaping creates a composition that showcases a beautiful and cohesive pipe.
Brugman has become know 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. You can clearly see beautiful straight grain around the chamber and along the sides of the shank, complimented by tight birds-eye end grain on the rim, heel, and top & bottom of the shank. This pipe might not have the text book straight grain, yet still has straight grain that carries its own unique beauty, grain that is compliments by the shape, and uniquely dynamic grain that has its own character. As Brugman says:
…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 limited edition hand made vulcanite rods. 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 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 3/4″”
Bowl Height: 1 7/8″
Chamber Diameter: 3/4″
Weight: 41 Grams
Materials: Briar & Vulcanite
Grade: 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
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.
