A bizarre freehand

April 2007

The career of Pierre Morel junior from Saint Claude is as varied as his products. Morel is the son of the pipe maker Pierre Morel senior. Already as a ten-year-old boy, he assisted in his father's studio, but subsequently worked for years alternately independently or in the service of other companies. He visited Denmark where he was employed by the Larsen company. Back in his own home town, he worked for Chacom, among others. His oeuvre is exceptionally divers, although Morel specializes in giants and bizarre freehands. He learned how to make unique pieces, entirely made by hand, from his father who introduced them to Saint-Claude. Morel continues that tradition in which he creates every pipe acoording to the material, without making a design drawing beforehand. The tobacco pipe from Morel shown here is characteristic of his freehands category. A whimsically shaped pipe has been created from a disk plateau bruyère. The fleuron of the briar runs along the lower edge of the pipe and is accentuated with dark stain. A beautiful flame grain is visible on both sides of the pipe. Along the top of the pipe, a briar standing ridge has been pierced with finger holes in two places. Some modest sculptual volutes have been applied around these openings. Morels’ favorite mouthpieces of cumberland is used with this pipe as well.

Amsterdam Pipe Museum APM 18.604

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