The Russians Are Coming!

[Winslow]

I am seeing brilliant hand mades coming out of the former USSR from at least
a half dozen young carvers.Workmanship and innovative shapes second to none.
I believe we are seeing the beginning of a new era and if given the chance I'd like
to pick up a piece before everyone realizes just how good these guys are.Once they
get the publicity and some distribution they will cause a big shift in the hobby.

Winslow :sunny:

 

[Sasquatch]

Yes. Both Senatorov and this cat, Yashtylov

http://www.pipeatelier.spb.ru/

are doing some totally jaw-dropping pipes. There are a lot of Czechs and Poles and Germans etc making some pretty wicked stuff.

There was a pipe posted at pipe maker's forum that took 180 hours.

 

[NSPiper]

Not exactly a Russian, but have a look at this Ukrainian gentleman's creations :

http://www.smokingpipes.biz/smokingpipes.htm

Cheers
Ken

 

[Winslow]

These Eastern European carvers may eclipse the Danes,Japanese,and German
top carvers.It may well come to pass that a Sentarov pipe will be more desireable
than an Eltang.Time will tell,these guys are young and hungry for success.

Winslow :sunny:

 

[wojtekpastuch]

It may well come to pass that a Sentarov pipe will be more desireable
than an Eltang.

I don't think it will ever come to that. It really takes a lot of different factors for a pipemaker to become a celebrity like Eltang, Nordh, Ivarsson, etc. There's obviuosly quality and esthetics, but there's also marketing, word of mouth between collectors and other stuff... We live in a world where it seems (thanks to airplanes and internet) that distance and local situation is no longer a concern but it is not exactly true. I have an incredible admiration for Ucrainian and Russian masters, I have exchanged emails with Yashtylov (he is the best!!!) and currently I'm saving up money for one of his pipes. Despite that I still think that what happens in that part of the world (don't get me wrong, I live in Poland so I'm not that far) tends to stay there. Yashtilov and Senatorov are becoming known in other countries mostly because they are (rightly!) advertising themselves on forums and message boards. There are quite a lot of other, also very good pipemakers whose work is admirable but is barely known to more than a handful of collectors outside their native country (Kharlamov, Reviagin, Aivazovsky, Ailarov).
This situation has its good sides- these artisans do not get crazy with their prices while producing really high grade smoking tools. That way if you have some knowledge of those artisans you can get a real jewel of a pipe without selling your house and without contributing to the absurd pricing od the Danes.

Go Russians!!