Butera (Michael Butera)

Butera is the brand under which American maker Michael (Mike) Butera produces handmade briar pipes under his own name. Taking up the bench in the late 1970s, Butera is regarded as one of the first American makers to reach a level of craftsmanship and finish previously associated only with European workshops; for this reason the history of the American handmade pipe scene is often dated from him.

From Insurance to the Bench

Butera did not come to the bench from within a craft tradition, but from within pipe smoking itself. His actual profession was insurance brokerage, and his relationship to pipes remained for a long time nothing more than that of an enthusiastic user. What turned this interest into production was the trip to Europe he took in the late 1970s. The journey centered on Italy and Denmark; Butera examined both the working methods and the design sensibility of the leading workshops of the day up close. According to accounts, during this trip he had the chance to see the work of carver Baldo Baldi closely, and formed a lasting friendship with Carlo Scotti, founder of the Castello brand. On his return he ran two businesses at once: entering the tobacco and cigar trade on one hand, and setting up his own bench to carve pipes on the other.

Awards and Scale of Production

Recognition came quickly. Records indicate that Butera won the "best standard shape" award at the first show he entered as a pipe maker, in 1985, and was honored every year over the nine years he regularly submitted pipes to Pipe Collectors International shows. Production, however, never scaled up to a factory level. Even in his most productive period, annual output reportedly never exceeded 150-200 pipes, and the maker is said to have traveled to Italy regularly to select his own blocks by hand. This gap between the award count and the production volume is considered the main reason the Butera signature was already regarded as rare and sought after in those years.

The Tobacco and Cigar Side

The Butera name did not appear only under pipes. Over time the maker shifted his focus toward blending and distribution; the Butera Royal Vintage cigar line, produced in the Dominican Republic, dates from 1993. On the pipe tobacco side as well, blends carrying his name entered circulation: the Royal Vintage line was produced in the United States, while the Kingfisher and Pelican lines were produced by Germain on the island of Jersey. The burden of the trade kept the maker away from the bench for years; he is said to have later sold off both companies.

Influence and Current Status

Butera's real contribution to American pipe making is sought less in the pieces he made himself than in the generation that came after him. He is credited with a role in the training of names such as Michael Frey, Steve Weiner, Larry Roush, and Premal Chheda. Another channel through which his knowledge spread beyond the workshop was the pipe-making seminar he ran with Lee von Erck ahead of the Chicago pipe show. In August 2017, the maker's home and the workshop in his garage were damaged in the major flood that struck Houston; records indicate production has been suspended since that date, and there is no more recent information on the matter. Butera-signed pipes today are therefore only limited pieces that change hands among collections.