Okay now something about me:

Something About Me

I was born in 1952. I have been a fulltime pipemaker since 1978. In school my primary interest was in painting. I also had the urge to create things for wich I had a daily need, using my own ideas. For example, I designed and made all my own clothes and furniture. So it only made sense that I should want to make my own pipes!

My first real professional passion was for architecture. I studied architecture in Graz and worked professionally for a couple of years. It was at this time that I started to carve my own pipes, just for my personal fun and use. My first pipes were principally sculptures- "art objects" which one could also smoke.

Please click the "backflash" button to see my very first pipes.

In 1977(?), during a stay in Basel, I met a gallery owner who encouraged me to exhibit some of my pipes. I wasn't sure if I could ever hope to have success with this kind of work, but life taught me an interesting lesson. From then on I decided to turn my hobby into my living. It was a good decision. Architecture was 10% work and 90% fighting. Now I spend 10% of my time on administration and 90% of my time on the real work.

Everything I know about pipemaking I had to learn by myself.

Right from the start, sales for these "art objects" were good. But when I met the women who was to later become my wife, and we wanted to have children, it was clear that I had to sell more pipes, so I began making classical shapes too. But I always held fast to the idea that these "classical" pipes were not just going to be pastiche replicas of shapes from a bygone era. Instead, just like the rest of my work, they were to be well developed, refined examples of pipe making art, each one expressing its own unmistakable style.

At this time I also started to do service and restoration jobs for pipesmokers all around Austria. I did whatever was necessary to repair a pipe and make it smokeable again. For many years I even held the exclusive Dunhill repair contract for all of Austria.

In 2000 I stopped repairing pipes in order to focus exclusively on my own original work. It is work that I love, and fortunately, no one can force me to retire.

Thank you for spending some time on my website!

Something about my pipe making philosophy:

When I started making pipes I did it just for my privat use. Then after I decided to be more a professional than a privat pipemaker I was searching for my niche in the market. I found out that my design and the way I think pipes have to look and feel like are different from the standard pipemakers. In addition to this my workshop and my one man company :-) is not able to produce more than 200 pipes a year. So I experimented a lot with grain - stain - wax etc. After a long period of trail and error I discovered my personal perfect finish which was a result of all this treatments in a special order and way. As I only can produce about 200 pipes a year it is impossible to compete against all the big pipemakers in the world. So the pipes I am focusing on are pipes with perfect grain (either straight or cross grain) and clear lines. The main thing in my work is the combination of a well ballanced shapes together with a grain that helps to pronunce the form of the pipe.

A classic shape is always a big challange for me. In that case the grain plays a main roll in the appearance of the pipe. The grain can influence the form a lot. It can make the pipe look more dynamic or more calm. For example a Billard:


when the rays start on the top of the bowl they make the pipe more calm.	when the rays start on the bottom of the bowl they make the pipe more dynamic.

When the pipe is cross grained and you can only see birdeyes on the sidewalls the form is most neutral.

Pipes - new in design but with a classical touch and familiar proportion. The look and the feeling when you touch the pipe. All these factors should support you during a smoke and make you feel comfort. Maybe you can compare it with the task of a wineglass designer. Then in some details you should see the handwriting of the pipemaker. I like to equip my pipes with a half saddle mouthpiece. This half saddle makes the lines of a pipe smoother.


normal saddle	half saddle

Or a stem with a flat upperside parallel to the bowltop. Some pipes have a wood application to embellish there look. These application are often made of olivewood because olive trees like to grow near the briar. Sometimes i make these connections with horn because every single part of horn is as unique in colour and veining as wood.

Another part of my philosophy is that I only produce clean pipes. That means NO FILLS ! I never ever will sell a pipe which has a fill. A spot or a tiny sandpit can happen somethimes and is part of the natural material Briar. If that spot does not have any influence of the look or the smoking quality. For example a spot in the smokehole makes a pipe meet the trashcan. Only about 60% of the Ebauchons I start carving on are worth making a pipe out of. More than 40% is garbage . If I see a pipe would have a too large spot or flaw I have to drop it in the trash can. Bad luck if this happens at a very late stage of the production. Whenever I make a mistake in drilling (for example the smokehole is 1 mm too high ) or something, I drop the pipe imediately. All pipes I produce hold the highest standards I can make.

My finish. A light brown-to orange colour with a Carnauba wax coating which is polished to a shiny glossy surface. Due to the nature of the Briar some pipes come out lighter and some darker.

All my mouthpices are handcut and made of vulcanite.

The shapes of my pipes are hard to describe. Some are more on the classic side and some are more on the freehand side. A lot of my pipes cannot be described with the usual nomenclature system. Better to watch them and decide for your own. Taste is too subjective to discuss here.

So whenever you decide to buy a Matzhold pipe you can be sure to get a pipe with good grain made from the best italian Briar with NO FILLS. A handcut vulcanite mouthpiece. A smooth, waxed and polished finish. And a unique shape that is nice to touch, smoke, play and to look at.

Whenever wherever you smoke a Matzhold pipe and you feel statisfied - relaxed and happy you can be sure of a big grin on my face!

	Straightgrain. On the bowl. Sure that the bottom has nice birdeyes. I was realy happy seeing this pipe came out of a plateau block. If you want to know where these Briar is from. Hmm.. I have to say I am soooo... sorry. This is a well kept secret :-) Any pipemaker in the world will say the same - I suppose.
	Crossgrain. You can see the grain on the bowl top.The left and the right side is covered with birdeyes.
	Birdeyes. On one sides of a crossgrained pipe. This side showes very thight birdeyes.
	Mouthpiece with a two coloured wood application. Whenever a pipe shouts out for an application I do it with differen kinds of wood.