Jan Pietenpauw

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Who is this Jan Pietenpauw?

"Who is Jan Pietenpauw?" you might ask. Well, let me tell you. Jan Pietenpauw is the Dutchman who carved Van Hunks' pipe. (Van Hunks was the fellow who beat the devil in a smoking contest whilst sitting on the slopes of Table Mountain in Cape Town many years ago. And sometimes, even to this day, the mountain is still covered in a cloud of smoke).

No, this is not quite true. Jan Pietenpauw did not carve Van Hunks' pipe, but he did create that famous calabash of one Sherlock Holmes!

Now for those of us who know, Sherlock Holmes never smoked a calabash. In fact, he never even existed!... and neither did Jan Pietenpauw! But in all legends, there has to be a hero.

I was actually born Jean Christophe du Toit, way back in 1953 and ever since I can remember - and as far as I know, my memory is still 20/20 - I have been a pipe smoker and pipe "manufacturer". Plaster of Paris, a cherry tree branch, reed, these were my materials. I remember reading somewhere that pipes were carved out of rose wood ("rooshout" in Afrikaans) and afterward I spent weeks inspecting every rose bush in my mother's garden trying to find a suitable shrub for a pipe. Only recently did I start carving "proper" pipes and thought that I might offer some for sale. My pipes are reasonably priced (some are downright cheap) only because I am not as famous yet as some of the great names in pipe lore.

And so, if I may offer some advice: buy a Jan Pietenpauw now. You will be getting a fine pipe and you do not have to be friends with the local loan shark. For surely, as the fame increases, so will the price and no collection is complete without a Pietenpauw!

Gallery

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Contact Information

Website: http://www.pietenpauw.co.za/
Email:   mailto:jcdt1@absamail.co.za
Email:   mailto:pietenpauw@mweb.co.za
Phone:   +27 82 459 4475