Larrysson Pipes (Paul Hubartt)

Larrysson Pipes is the brand of the workshop Paul Larrysson Hubartt runs alone in Cornwall, at England's southwestern tip. This small operation, set up by a maker born in Iceland and raised in Indiana after he settled in Britain, is counted among the examples of artisan-scale production: every step passes through one hand, and there is no quality grade in the catalog.

The Name and the Entry Into the Craft

The brand name comes from the maker's middle name; it is the equivalent of the Scandinavian patronymic naming tradition, meaning "son of Larry." Hubartt settled in Cornwall after marrying in the summer of 2002. His involvement with pipes began two years earlier, in 2000, when he joined Indiana's Tri State Pipe and Tobacco Club (TSPTC) and began regularly attending the Chicago pipe show the club's circle frequented.

He recounts that after moving to Britain he got his basic grounding in making from Marco Janzen, a pipe repairer in Hamburg: it was during this period that he learned to drill briar, turn a mouthpiece, and set up a workshop's tool arrangement on a Myford-brand lathe. After selling his first ten pipes, TSPTC's 2004 club pipe order came in; records show the club's 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 pipes also came from his hand.