Hiroyuki Tokutomi Freehand Sitter with Mastodon Ivory Ferrule (One Snail) (2005) (Unsmoked) Tobacco Pipe

Sykes, Anna, and Tony get to see a lot more Tokutomi pipes than I do. The vast majority sell through a few simple calls letting interested collectors know that a new batch has arrived. They may say that this is something that they have seen before from the master. I haven't. Created in 2005, this pipe is based on the mushroom shape, and is compressed along the vertical axis creating a sweet rim elongation both fore and aft. The rim, by itself, is a thing of wonder. Three separate tiers meld in a marvelous, undulating manner, with abrupt falls to the left and right fore of the bowl. To balance the wild "organic" of the bowl, Toku-san employs a tried and true, architectural Japanese shank. Then, in a move of spectacular extravagance, the master fashions one of the most spell binding pieces of mastodon that I have seen to date. "Stunning" is a bit of an understatement.

--Bear Graves