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Peter Matzhold

Tier:

Affordable	Mid-grade	Elevated	High-grade	Top
			X

Maker's own website: http://www.matzhold-peter.at/

Country: Austria

Price: € 220+

Production method:

Factory	Machine-assisted	Freehand
		X

Notes: Austria's premier carver, a former architect, has been making pipes commercially since 1978. His briars are often variants of standard shapes, but he sometimes produces more innovative pieces. Widely seen as a very grain-oriented carver, he was rather fashionable in the US a couple of years ago.

Grades: A - G. CU (the initials of his children) is Matzhold's special grade for top pipes.

Comments: Superb bit work!

Matzhold's stylistic gaze appears to be southwards to Italy, rather than northwards to Germany and Denmark.

On the US market, he may currently be suffering the depressive after-effects of hype. In my opinion, Matzhold has not deserved this, though his pipes often fail to tickle my own fancy. To my mind, his shapes sometimes lack grace and 'character' (blurry though that word may be). However, his style has remained essentially unchanged for years, so this does not explain the current lack of interest shown by some former enthusiasts.

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