Thomas “Tom” Arcoleo — better known as Tom Pipecarver — was the American outlier who said “fu*k briar” and carved dramatic freehands from African bubinga. Dense, resonant, and richly figured, his material choice gave the pipes a bold, sculptural presence that you feel in the hand before you even light up. 
From 1973–1993 he worked under Tom Pipecarver & Son out of Princeton, New Jersey (shop at 4 Spring Street), turning out highly sculpted pieces that were typically unstamped and ungraded — you recognize them by eye, not by nomenclature. A materials-minded maker by training (engineer/technical economist), he brought precision to a very wild aesthetic. 
In later years he was based in Little Compton, RI and is now deceased — the work stands as the record. If you see that gnarly bubinga with free-flowing, hand-driven contours and no stamp, stop scrolling: you’ve likely found an Arcoleo, as is the case here.
Stem is 9/10. Come and take it.
Follow my shop for choice pipes and color commentary, uploaded regularly and original pipes hand made by me, uploaded occasionally. I REGULARLY STOCK 100+ ESTATE PIPES SO CHECK OUT MY OTHER AUCTIONS
Keywords – briar smoking tobacco pipe rare vintage antique estate pipe potato
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My shipping is a little more than some. I use UPS (unless it's going to a PO Box or non contiguous US) because UPS has a 98% success rate versus UPS at 87.5%. I have a dedicated UPS representative who goes above and beyond in the rare case there is a shipping issue. Three-ish dollars is worth the peace of mind in my opinion
