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.

The Faaborg Workshop

After his factory period ended, Tarp kept up pipemaking as a side occupation for many years; according to records, moving the work entirely to his own bench did not happen until 2010. His workshop today is in the port town of Faaborg on the island of Fyn, which he shares with Kai Nielsen, known to him from the Bari years. Sharing a space does not mean joint production: each master completes his own pipes from the first cut to the final polish entirely alone. It is reported that annual production runs to around two hundred pipes, though this figure has not been confirmed by independent sources.

Shape and Material

The shapes Tarp produces move between textbook classic molds and freely carved freehand bowls. All bowls are made from briar. His usual choice for stems is vulcanite and Cumberland; horn is used only occasionally. Because horn is difficult to work and prone to cracking, this material is limited to straight-bowled pipes. Tarp is said to be one of the few Danish makers still keeping up horn stems. Some pipes feature silver, horn or boxwood bands; a portion are made to fit a 9 mm filter.

The shape that could be called his signature is Kronen, meaning "crown." Carved mainly with a knife rather than turned and sanded, this model has been in his repertoire for more than thirty years; even so, it is said that the number of Kronen pipes made to date has not reached fifteen. This figure rests on a single source and should be read with caution.

Tarp's name has also become known beyond Denmark's borders. He has attended pipe gatherings held in the United States, Russia and China, and has built himself a particularly loyal following in China among these countries.