Butera (Michael Butera)

Butera is the brand under which American maker Michael (Mike) Butera produces handmade briar pipes under his own name. Taking up the bench in the late 1970s, Butera is regarded as one of the first American makers to reach a level of craftsmanship and finish previously associated only with European workshops; for this reason the history of the American handmade pipe scene is often dated from him.

From Insurance to the Bench

Butera did not come to the bench from within a craft tradition, but from within pipe smoking itself. His actual profession was insurance brokerage, and his relationship to pipes remained for a long time nothing more than that of an enthusiastic user. What turned this interest into production was the trip to Europe he took in the late 1970s. The journey centered on Italy and Denmark; Butera examined both the working methods and the design sensibility of the leading workshops of the day up close. According to accounts, during this trip he had the chance to see the work of carver Baldo Baldi closely, and formed a lasting friendship with Carlo Scotti, founder of the Castello brand. On his return he ran two businesses at once: entering the tobacco and cigar trade on one hand, and setting up his own bench to carve pipes on the other.