Anima Pipes

Anima Pipes is the brand name for the pipes American maker Brian McNulty shaped one at a time by hand; the workshop is associated in the records with Culver City, California. The name comes from the Latin word anima, meaning "soul," and refers directly to the red point on the mouthpiece that is the brand's most distinctive mark.

Production was carried out at workshop scale without adherence to serial molds; every bowl was cut according to the grain direction of the briar block used.

The Catlinite Point

The brand's signature is the red clay piece inlaid in the mouthpiece. This material is catlinite, the red stone North American Indigenous communities have used for centuries in ceremonial pipes. The inlay is described not merely as decoration but as a mark that gives physical form to the idea of the pipe's "soul." McNulty is stated to be of Cherokee descent, and the choice of catlinite is linked to this connection as well. The surface where the inlay is set is worked according to the hardness of the mouthpiece material.