Sandblasted Brazil Nut with Bamboo Tobacco Pipe

When I pulled this sleek pipe up in my computer to start typing the description, I saw that it was titled as a "shield". To me it didn't look much like a shield, certainly not one as I would envision Adam creating it. Most of the time, when I feel that a questionable shape title was entered, prior to arriving at my desk, I am pretty much on my own. I mean placing a spur-of-the-moment call to Kei�ichi Gotoh to find out if "Leaf and Moon" or "Spinach Salad" was the intended name of a shape, or if Mark was just checking to see if I was on my toes, is downright hard (Yes to the first, utterly made up on the second). Thankfully, I have Adam just down the hall. I wandered down and asked "Shield or Brazil Nut?" "Brazil Nut, can you imagine having to defend yourself holding a shield at that angle? You know what they would call a Spartan who held his shield like that in practice? "Slave"" Well, there we go.

By taking a shape whose bowl is usually presented as bolt upright and canting it forward roughly 30 degrees, Adam simultaneously creates the impression that this briar is even longer than the formidable length of 7.64" would suggest, while adding a delicious continuity of flow and enhanced forward momentum. Due to the superb sandblasting, this "nut" shows tons of grain on the front and back faces (yet another marvelous Davidson brocade). The bamboo work is marvelous and the bit is enticingly thin and perfectly slotted. Few carvers have Adam's capacity (nay, joy) for sweating the details, a mightily appreciated attribute if you become its owner.

--Bear Graves