Heather Coleman (Dawnmist Studio)

Heather Coleman is a clay pipe maker and collector working in Exeter, in southwest England's Devon region. At her one-woman workshop, run under the name Dawnmist Studio, she produces clay pipe reproductions based on historic examples. Coleman's name is associated less with a brand than with being one of the few people today still carrying forward a craft that has nearly gone extinct.

From Collecting to Workshop

Coleman's relationship with the pipe begins not with making but underground. According to accounts, she began collecting broken pipe fragments she came across on country walks in her youth, building over decades of effort a collection of thousands of pieces. Records indicate the collection spans a wide range, from the late 16th century to the early 20th, and includes examples not only from England but also from Scotland, the Netherlands, and France. Part of this collection has been shown to the public in an exhibition on collecting at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum (RAMM) in Exeter.

Collecting fragments eventually turned into an attempt to remake them. Records indicate Coleman has been making pipes since the late 1990s, and the workshop's actual founding is dated to this same period.