BO NORDH NAUTILUS ” NEW & UNSMOKED ” AS GOOD AS IT GETS
Posted by Fadi Ayat on October 21, 2007
HIS IS A (10) TEN-DAY (10), NO RESERVE, AND INTERNATIONAL COLLECTABLE BRIAR PIPE AUCTION.
This very pipe offering is the strongest that I have listed this year. This auction represents both a very rare and extremely special opportunity to own and enjoy one of the finest ultra high grade hand made briar pipes that has ever been crafted, by the universally acknowledged best pipe maker of all time, Mr. Bo Nordh.
PLEASE CLICK HERE TO VIEW ALL OF THE OTHER BEAUTIFUL, NEW, OR FULLY RESTORED AND RECONDITIONED HIGH GRADE COLLECTABLE PIPES THAT I HAVE LISTED FOR AUCTION THIS WEEK ON EBAY!
Some personal Musings:
Two year ago, I became good friends with Bo Nordh. The friendship developed when he finally got a computer and we started to correspond on a virtual daily basis exchanging jokes, muses, some common interests (especially music!) and pipe information. He would follow my auctions, as he was very curious how many various high grade carvers pipes would do on a no reserve auction format. He also respected my work, as I respected his. After reading a description that I had written about him in one of his pipe auctions, he sent me an e-mail complimenting me on the description that I gave of him. He said, “Thank you for writing my obituary!” Such was his sense of humor! It is still a note that reverberates in my head, as Bo had no idea that he was not going to be around within the year of that e-mail. In May of 2006, we shared a private lunch together in Chicago. Before lunch he gave me a copy of a photo CD disk that he had put together as part of a presentation that he was giving at the Chicago Pipe Club Show. He wanted me to have the disk as he knew that at one time I collected his pipes, and he also thought that if I have the occasion to sell any of his pipes on eBay, that the winning bidder should have a copy of the disk to help further his appreciation for Bo’s incredible work.
It is at once with sadness at his loss, but with posthumous joy that I can fulfill his wishes that whenever I sell one of his pipes on eBay the winning bidder will receive a copy of the photo disk with about 160 photographs of his pipes that Bo has taken over the years. The winning bidder of this auction will receive a copy of the disk. I have included a few pictures at the end of this listing that are representative of the photographs that are on the disk. Please do not ask me for a copy of this disk. It is only available to the auction winner.
I miss Bo terribly. I miss his jokes, and his daily musings. The pipe world lost the best briar carver who ever lived. He was top tier. The best of the best. There has never been anyone who could come even close. Bo was also a gentleman with an appreciation for life and nature. I know that I am not alone in the tremendous sense of loss that I feel. The pipe world is just not the same without him.
About this beautiful and special Bo Nordh pipe:
You are bidding on an UNSMOKED & BRAND NEW CONDITION amazing cross grain “Nautilus” shaped pipe that Bo Nordh had carved in 2004. This pipe is one of Bo’s signature shapes. Bo’s signature shaped pipes, such as the “Nautilus”, “Ramses”, “Elephant’s Foot”, “Ballerina”, and “Oliphant Horn” are among his most famous and most valuable shapes. These are the pipes that helped to make Bo Nordh the legend that he was and still is. Naturally, there are his priciest pipes, and in unsmoked condition, even pricier, as in their original and unsmoked condition are as rare and as desirable as any briar pipes on the planet. To have the opportunity to possess an unsmoked Bo Nordh “signature” shaped pipe is an opportunity of a lifetime. This is an investment grade pipe, as there simply are no more. This is your chance to have the pride of ownership of that comes with owning the best of the best that is also no longer attainable. This is like owning an original Monet or Van Gogh oil painting. This is an opportunity that cannot and will not be repeated.I believe that this “Nautilus” shaped pipe was the very last of this wonderful shape to ever be carved by Bo Nordh. Not that he ever crafted many of them. I believe that less than ten of this special shape were ever carved over Bo’s lifetime. .
Bo Nordh was considered by most knowledgeable pipe collectors and smokers as the finest pipe carver and artist who ever lived. His reputation was and still is exemplary. His work was legendary. Yes, Bo Nordh was and is a legend! Bo had been carving pipes, out of his wheelchair, for about thirty years. In his prime, he would carve thirty pipes a year. His attention to detail, from the selection of the finest aged briar, vulcanite, and other natural materials available in the world, to the unbelievable amount of time he spent crafting each pipe was simply, second to none. Do the arithmetic and you will find that it took Bo about 100 hours to turn these finest of raw materials into a treasured work of art. It’s hard to imagine in these times of mass production that kind of highly skilled labor and pure attention to detail. Details of the carving – getting the most beauty from a block of prime, old, and twenty-year naturally aged and air dried straight grained briar burl, the flow of the bowl into the stem, the perfect alignment of the draft hole on both the stem and the shank of the pipe, the perfect centering of the tobacco chamber, the perfect interior dimensions of the tobacco chamber, the perfect cut and shaping of the hand cut stem and lip, the perfect glass like finish of the bowl and the perfect staining of the bowl. One hundred hours.
The most striking aspect of a Bo Nordh pipe is that it has been so extremely well executed that it needs nothing. There is not a singular detail about his pipes that needs either improvement or correction. They are truly highly finished “jewels.” Bo Nordh pipes are at the ultimate pinnacle of pipe collecting. They are the Acme, the Zenith, and the Apex of what our hobby represents and is all about. To own a Bo Nordh pipe is to own the absolute very best briar smoking instrument that mankind has ever carved. There is a joy that comes with owing a Nordh that goes way beyond the wonderful smoking qualities that his pipes possess. It is a joy that comes with owning the very finest briar artwork that has ever been created. Bo Nord’s very first pipe is in a museum. Several collectors of his spectacular pipes have never even smoked them. They are either securely locked away in their fireproof safes, or on display as fine art.
As you already know, Bo had passed away last summer at the age of 65. These already scarce and extremely rare, eminently collectable, and highly desirable pipes have become absolutely impossible to obtain. To own a Bo Nordh pipe is to own a continually appreciating investment that can either be passed down over the generations as an heirloom, or to be sold to another appreciative collector in the future. There will always be a market for the very best in the world, especially when there is no more of it being created!
The shape of this pipe is exquisite. Elegance and grace personified! Have you ever noticed how a professional athlete or musician makes their efforts seem so very easy when they are performing? This pipe is an example of that ease. While it looks easy to do (carve), in reality the execution (of the carving) is extremely difficult!
This gorgeous cross grained and artistically sculpted pipe has had only one owner. It has never seen a flame. The lucky winner of this auction will have that distinguished honor and pleasure. However, I think that the winner of this auction will want to admire this work of art for a good long time before they fire it up, after all a pipe like this is not just another pipe to smoke! It is an investment in beauty, in art, and in appreciating the very, very, best of man’s capabilities.
Here are the dimensions: The overall length measures 5.875”. The bowl height measures 2.25” The tobacco chamber is 0.825” in diameter and tapers down the bowl’s 1.75” inner depth. Capacity is similar to a Group 5 size Dunhill. This pipe weighs 72 grams. The black pipe bag is included.
Due to the very special nature of this pipe, I am breaking ranks with my usual 1 cent starting bid price and am starting the bid at a very realistic $9,975.00 which is thousands of dollars less that the current market value of this treasured work of briar art. Do not expect to win this auction at that opening bid price. There will be bidding competition for this pipe. Should there be no winners of this auction, please do not waste your time getting in touch with me, as this pipe will not be offered a single penny lower than the opening bid price. The opportunity to bid on and win this pipe is truly “Once in a lifetime!” Remember the bonus disc with 160 Bo Nordh pipe pictures is included as a bonus! This disc will be mailed to the winning bidder under separate cover from the pipe.
