A. Petersen Pipes

A. Petersen Pipes is a one-person pipe bench operating in the Quad Cities region of the American Midwest, where the Mississippi River flows from east to west. The name behind the brand is Andrew R. Petersen, who lives in Davenport, Iowa. The workshop is a typical example of the new generation of American makers producing individually signed pipes who emerged in the late 2000s.

Founding of the Bench

Petersen's start in pipe making dates, per records, to 2007. As the account goes, examining a factory-made Danish pipe he had bought and deciding the shape could come from his own hands too was the beginning of the work; he completed his first pipe that same autumn. Such a beginning is counted among the examples showing the influence of Danish School shapes on the American workshop generation.

Petersen first ran his business under the name Quad City Pipes. The name was a tribute to the two-state Quad Cities region, and pipes from this period carry the QCP stamp set inside an oval frame. Over time the maker came to prefer his products being known under his own name; the brand thus became A. Petersen Pipes. Examples carrying the old stamp are treated in collector records under a separate heading as the maker's early work.