Cooke, James T.: Difference between revisions

</ref>  In 2022, he was awarded Doctor of Pipes by the Chicago Pipe Collectors Club, the equivalent of Hollywood’s Oscar for Lifetime Achievement Oscar. <ref>Chuck Stanion, “Doctors and Masters of Pipes: A Timeline,” <nowiki>https://www.smokingpipes.com/smokingpipesblog/single.cfm/post/doctors-and-masters-pipes-timeline?utm_source=Smokingpipes.com&utm_campaign=18848e7cd7-Sun_Jun_12_2022_DailyReader&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0e8b6a473f-18848e7cd7-209228005</nowiki> , accessed June 12, 2022.</ref>  He has made two pipes of the year for ''Pipes & Tobaccos'' magazine, one in 1999 (in a run of 250) and a second (in a run of 50) in 2008. In 2005, he made an edition of 25 straight dublins for the NASPC club pipe. <ref>http://www.naspc.org/Pipe%20of%20the%20Year.htm, accessed 6/10/22.</ref>  His pipes are renowned for offering a tactile and visual experience unlike any others in the world.  His work is in such continuous demand that commissioned pipes have sometimes taken three to four years, resulting in a robust estate market where his pipes routinely sell for more than newly commissioned ones.  

J. T.’s design language can be understood as based in part on classic English shapes—particularly the Dunhill Shell and Barling Fossils—and in part on his own interpretations of current and past popular shapes, or what French pipe critic Erwin Van Hove calls “contemporary classicism.” <ref>Erwin Van Hove, “Go West!” reprinted in ''Pipes & Tobaccos,'' Spring 2004, 14-19.</ref>  It is perhaps convenient  to consider Cooke’s work as three organically evolving stages, similar to that routinely used by classical music critics.  

The Early Period runs from Cooke's departure as Art Director for WCAX-TV in 1976 through about 1999. He pursued both pipe repair and pipe making first with The Briar Workshop and then with Levin Pipes International.

In the transitional Middle Period, J. T. set up under his own name, abandoned repair work and hung up his shingle as an artisan increasingly dedicated to “the bastard child” of pipe making (as he called it), sandblasting. It ran from his first Pipe of the Year for ''Pipes & Tobaccos'' magazine in 1999 until around the time of his second Pipe of the Year for that magazine in 2008.  

 

His work since then, the Late Period, demonstrates an increased dedication to executing his takes on classic shapes, the emergence of signature shapes, a growing affection for chubby shapes, all with perfection of engineering and a sandblast execution without parallel.

J. T. has used three  stamps in small capital letters at the mortise shank face to indicate the origin of his briar:

 

     OKF— “Old Knarly Friend”—briar from Morocco

 

     OGF—“Old Gnarly Friend”—briar from Italy (no longer used)

 

     OKFA—“Old Knarly Friend Algeria" –briar from Algeria (no longer used)

 

 

There have only been two shank stamps indicating the authenticity of a Cooke pipe:

 

     J.T. & D. Cooke—on pipes made before 1996; “D” refers to ex-wife Deb who teamed with Cooke as sander when they were making pipes for other American labels. <ref>“In A Class All His Own.”</ref> 

 

     J. T. Cooke—on pipes after 1996.      

 

 

In addition, Cooke pipes have always used the Chinese Yin and Yang symbol for stem identification.

By choice and good fortune, Cooke has followed the classic trajectory of continuous study and a long apprenticeship as journeyman before setting up shop under his own name. He made his first pipe in 1972 from a pre-carved block of briar, which he smoked while quitting cigarettes. He later carved it into a turbaned, bearded figural. <ref>Chuck Stanion, “The Road Less Traveled,” ''Pipes & Tobaccos,'' Summer 1997.</ref> 

In partnership with his ex-wife Deb, Cooke worked making pipes for The Briar Workshop and the Wilke pipe shop. They also did rough shaping for Mike Butera’s pipes as well making thousands of pipes under the LPI Levin Pipes International stamp. <ref>Email from Cooke to Mark Irwin, June 3, 2022.</ref> 

Barry Levin of Levin Pipes International (LPI) was a close friend of Cooke’s until his death and was instrumental in Cooke’s growth as a pipe maker, providing J.T. with the opportunity to study thousands of pipes as he restored them. An important outgrowth of his partnership with Levin was Cooke’s interest in creating reproduction stems, which would lead to creating his own hand-poured acrylic stems. <ref>"Road Less Traveled.”</ref>

After Levin's passing, in 1990 the Cookes began marketing their own pipes. J.T.’s facility and artistry are on display in two sets of photographs sent to prospective pipe shops at this time, showing a striking cavalier figural of Abraham Lincoln, smooth and sandblast free hands, classic shapes and “Icicle” rustic and smooth combinations resembling Castello and Radice’s melted wax-style pipes. These photos show the range and sophistication of his work at this time, including the growth of his distinctive signature style based on his deep appreciation of classic English shapes . The bell calabash, horn, standing poker and bulldog are all shapes to which he will frequently return in his later work.

The transition to J. T.’s Middle Period is easily dated from the 1999 Pipe of the Year he agreed to make the first Pipe of the Year for ''Pipes & Tobaccos'' magazine, following on the heels of the important 1997 interview with editor Chuck Stanion in that magazine. By this time sandblasting had become Cooke’s métier as an artisan. As Stanion writes,

<blockquote>J.T. designs his pipes to be sandblasted. That is, unlike those who try to make a smooth pipe and then sandblast it when necessary, he designs a pipe so the proportions will be correct after sandblasting. J.T. knows classic shapes and is a stickler. All that experience with Dunhill and Barling classics made him a devotee of traditional shapes. In my opinion, J.T. Cooke is nearly alone in his ability to make a perfectly proportioned, sandblasted Billiard . . . . His pipes can appear a little on the chunky side until you realize that you're just not accustomed to seeing sandblasted pipes with proper proportions. Generally, deep, craggy blasts are necessarily reduced from their original proportions. Not so with Cooke pipes. <ref>Stanion, “Tesla.”</ref>  </blockquote>

Produced in an edition of 250 pipes, J. T. used the opportunity to “try to perfect his blasting technique” as Stanion recalls. “I learned something new with every pipe,” Cooke said. “Can you imagine what a perfect classroom that was? All the same classic Billiard shape, no confounding factors. I think I blasted all but six of those 250 pipes. That experience was like having the keys to the candy store. Total immersion in the blasting process. What an education.” <ref>Stanion, “Tesla.”</ref>  The overwhelming demand of creating this many pipes, however, led to severe carpal tunnel syndrome which required surgery in January of 2000. <ref>“In A Class All His Own”; the operation took place January 2^nd, 2000, per Cooke in an email to Mark Irwin, June 25, 2022.</ref>