Pipas Soler

Pipas Soler is a briar business operating in the town of Amer in Catalonia's Girona province, carried through generations by the same family. Its name is remembered by pipe enthusiasts in connection with two separate lines of work: on one hand, a raw-material source selling briar blocks to pipe makers, and on the other, a small workshop where pipes are shaped one at a time on its own bench.

Family and Origins

The business is dated to 1890. According to the story handed down, a family member's marriage to a French craftsman who worked with briar drew the Solers into the heath-root trade; although sources tell this kinship differently, they converge on the date. From that point the family built a system centered on buying burls, cutting them, and exporting rough blocks (ebauchon), passing the trade down through generations. This period coincides with the years of briar's rise centered on Saint-Claude; the cutting workshops on the Mediterranean coast were the link feeding Europe's pipe factories.

Today's master, Joan P. Soler Molina — Jean-Pierre Soler in French — is recorded as having been born in the French town of Cogolin; his father, Pedro Soler, emigrated to the south of France during the Spanish Civil War, and part of the family also worked in the pipe trade there. After returning to Amer following the war, the family continued selling ebauchon and later also entered pipe production. Joan P. Soler started at fourteen as an apprentice at the cutting works; he advanced his pipe-making skills over time through his own interest, and also made other objects such as canes and ornaments from briar. Records indicate he has worked as an independent master since 2001.

Workshop and Production

The facility's operation follows the classic steps of a briar cutting works: burls are sized on a circular saw, the resulting blocks are boiled in bronze vats for a continuous twelve hours, then dried under controlled conditions, sheltered from both extreme heat and extreme cold. Once curing is complete, the block is drilled at the bench and takes its first shape. At its most productive period, the operation employed ten people and shipped goods to markets such as the United States, Japan, Denmark, the United Kingdom, and Brazil.

Semi-finished pieces prepared for those who want only blocks are also part of the business; drilled blocks with a fitted stem turn up in the search of anyone looking for briar supply to make their own pipe.

Style

Pipes bearing Soler's own signature are freehand pieces that follow the block's grain rather than sticking to a shape drawn in advance. Carved, raw-looking surfaces and silhouettes no two alike are the clear mark of this style; the master says no two of his pieces are identical. That he occasionally reaches for playful details in the finish is also counted among the traits that made his name known. While the briar quality is generally appreciated in the community, it is also often noted that the shapes do not suit everyone's taste.

According to records, the factory closed around 2010 when the master retired at sixty-seven. No one from the family stepped in to take it over, and production has continued on a limited scale, in one pair of hands.