Tarp (Karsten Tarp)

Tarp is the brand of handmade pipes Danish maker Karsten Tarp stamps with his own name. The master's birthplace is the town of Kolding, in the south of the Jutland peninsula; his birth year is given in sources as either 1953 or 1954 and so cannot be considered settled.

Kolding was also the address of the Bari pipe factory, founded by Viggo Nielsen in 1948. Tarp's first step into the trade was taken at this factory; he is said to have worked there for close to ten years, meaning he learned what is known as the Danish school design approach not from books but at the bench.

Grading and Stamps

One of the brand's most striking features is that its quality grades are named after Viking-era ship names. At the bottom of the scale is Batr, above it in order Snigge and Skuder, and at the top Draker. Grain texture determines which grade a pipe is assigned: flawlessly grained bowls are reserved for the top grades' smooth finishes, while blocks with spots or flaws are sandblasted and placed in the lower grades. Some special pieces are kept entirely outside this ranking; they are signed with their own model names rather than a grade stamp.