Ernie Markle Pipes

Ernie Markle Pipes is a pipe signature carried on in a one-man workshop the maker set up in his own home in Scottsdale, Arizona. Every step, from selecting the block to the final polish of the mouthpiece, comes from the same hands; annual output therefore stays limited to a small number of pipes. Markle's move to full-time pipemaking dates to the early 2010s.

Work That Stays in One Pair of Hands

The Danish school's imprint is evident in Markle's pipes: bodies are built in stout, muscular proportions, with lines kept short and left dynamic. Alongside classic molds he also gives room to freehand interpretations; the choice between approaches is often said to be made by looking at the block's grain. Pieces with dense, regular growth rings are finished with sandblasting to bring out the texture; blocks with clean grain are left smooth-polished. A thin silver or boxwood band is occasionally seen where shank meets mouthpiece.

Mouthpieces are not selected from ready-made castings but shaped individually from ebonite rod. The tenon fitting is also said to be mostly turned from the same rod, with delrin reached for only rarely. This approach is consistent with ebonite standing out in handmade pipes for the soft feel it leaves in the mouth, among mouthpiece materials.