Smooth Horn with Boxwood Tobacco Pipe

Sam Cui certainly knows how to pick a piece of briar with some seriously lovely potential, shape into a pleasing form, contrast-finish it beautifully, polish it perfectly, and accent it fittingly — not to mention his excellent stem-work. All that would be impressive if we were talking about an artisan from, say, the US or Denmark, but it is all the more impressive when you consider the extra hurdles he's overcome as a pipemaker from China.

Sam, along with Ping Zhan, Li Zhesong, and a handful of others are coming to our attention now, but they are, as I've recently learned, actually part of a second, not the first, generation of Chinese pipemakers. Difficulty acquiring the right materials, a complete lack of design, technical, and engineering information in their native language, as it regards the making of fine briar smoking instruments, and other challenges prevented the earlier generation from ever becoming known outside of China.

However, between the rise of interest in tobacco pipes in China beginning about six years ago, this second, younger generation of artisans' greater familiarity with foreign languages, and, of course, a hell of a lot of effort, those like Sam, Ping, and Li have managed to break out onto the world stage, acquire greater learning, and put China on the map as a place producing pipemakers, like Sam Cui, of an impressive caliber. That is to say, artisans who can produce pieces like this Horn.

- Eric N. Squires