Flying to Geneve, Carlo has been sleeping since we took off, as it always happens to him. His wife, Giovanna, is taking pictures of the clouds flowing beneath us, while Maria is paging through the EasyJet catalogue, even if she is absolutely sure she won’t buy anything. We are going to France, Saint Claude, the Mecca of pipes, where Carlo and I are going to be enthroned during the 143 rd. chapter of the Confrerie des Maitre Pipiers. For those dealing with pipes this is a great honour. If you go to the website of the Confrerie, in the “History” section you will find this:
“The pipe, a symbol of peace, relaxation and love, but also of boldness, calculated courage and cold blood, adapts to be possessed only by generous, honest and brave men and women”.
It was in 1966, at the initiative of President Edgar Faure (1908-1988), also appointed as First Pipe Smoker of the Year, that the Confrerie des Maîtres Pipiers was created, whose aim, in the form of membership law 1901, was:
- Bringing together the pipemakers of the Saint-Claude region
- Organising events that allowed spreading the fame of Saint-Claude’s pipe, the world centre for briar root pipes, or taking part to such events.
It is to believe that the Confraternity answers to some secret need of the heart, because, as it was started by a handful of determined men, it is constantly growing. Currently, more than 1,500 people are ambassadors of the Pipe of Saint-Claude worldwide. They have been regarded as worthy of this task bringing their best at the service of the noble cause of the Pipe of Saint-Claude. The confreres come from the most different experiences, from the professionals in the sector to celebrities known for their love for the Pipe. They are from European Countries, from Swiss as well as America, Japan…and the women, though still small in number, are allowed to join the noble Confrerie des Maîtres Pipiers de Saint-Claude.
Embedded in an amazing landscape, Saint Claude is set within the natural Park of the Jura, at the junction between the Bienne and the Tacon rivers, about one hour and a half from Geneve.
It owes its name to the finding of Saint Claude of Besancon’s incorrupt body in 1160, which transformed the place into an important pilgrimage destination. The relation with the pipe, however, starts in the early 1900. As I have already written in another article on this website, in 1927 the making of briar-root pipes employed, in France alone, about 10,000 workers and Saint-Claude was busy all year round with this kind of factory.
The homeland of Chacom, Genod and Butz-Choquin, as well as of the craftsmen Pierre Morel, Michel Waille and Sebastien Beaud, has its streets furnished with pipe shaped litter bins and a tiny square hosts the sculpture of a gigantic pipe which gives off smoke at regular intervals. Along the main road there are several shops displaying pipes and briar objects and, right in front of the cathedral, you can visit the Pipe and Diamonds Museum. At the riverbank there is still the old Genod factory, currently Sebastien Beaud’s workshop, whereas just outside the city there is Chacom, that its young owner, my friend Antoine Grenard, recently moved to a modern building.
On October 14th Carlo and I were enthroned. With us, two more Italians, milestones of the Pipa Club Italia: Alberto Basciano and Genny Magrin; then my Polish friend Zbigniew Bednarczyk, Zibi for his friends, Mr Brog for the world of pipes. Obviously thrilled, at 5pm we went to the ceremony venue, a richly decorated hall inside the Pipe and Diamonds Museum.
All ceremonies have got the power of the ritual. They waken ancestral emotions whatever our character or our beliefs are. It happens also during the Confrerie enthronement. Entering the hall of enthronement is allowed only after you knock on a heavy wooden door. Therein, accurate dim lights surround hieratic figures wearing a long, blue and yellow robe, headgear and crest of the Confrerie on their neck. To the sides, almost in the dark, the audience. In the centre of the hall, a table hosts everything necessary to the “initiation test”: load a pipe you can choose among those offered by a master of ceremonies, light it up and clean it thereafter. In turn, the six initiated will accomplish the ritual, accompanied by Antoine. It is followed by the reading of the initiated’ s resume (my friend Sébastien Beaud will do it for me) and a text in which the novices are invited to defend the good name of the pipe of Saint Claude everywhere in the world. Eventually, there is the actual endowment during which the master of ceremony touches with a long pipe, as if it were a sword, both sides of the new Confrere Pipier’s shoulders.
To my enthronement, another ceremony was included, maybe even more important, the twinning between the Italian Accademia della Pipa ( Pipe Academy) and the Confrerie de Saint Claude, sealed by Antoine Grenard’s signature, as President of the latter, and the four founding Masters of the Accademia: Mimmo Romeo, companion of pipe adventures, creator of the Academy and best friend; Gabriele Dal Fiume, eclectic pipemaker and my comrade in many Pipe Show around the world; Davide Iafisco, one of the best representatives of the Italian high grade and I at last, still asking myself what have I done to deserve all this. To underline the importance of the event, there were some pupils of the Academy: Alessandro Bean, Manuele Morassut, Michele Sottocasa, Alessandro Lucca and Angelo Fassi, all of them good pipemakers and future Masters, definitely.
Back home, I hung the Confrere Pipier certificate in my lab and put the medallion in a drawer, away from briar dust, because the next time I will go back to Saint Claude for a new enthronement, I will have to wear this and I still can’t believe it.
