Smooth Bent Dublin with Boxwood Tobacco Pipe

Now this is an entirely magnificent specimen from the J. Alan workshop. Each contour is perfect, every turn exact, from the shift of the bowl to the heel and then to the shank, to the way the shank passes to the stem and then down to the button; the central line of the piece runs through clearly, cleanly, and with unerring balance and finesse. The whole feel of the composition reminds me of something Satou might do; in fact, this Dublin shape distinctly is reminiscent of the Japanese master, considering the camber of its rim, the way the bowl sits on its heel, and even the curvature of the front and bottom of the body. And that's a good thing. If that weren't enough, this pipe is replete with wispy straight grain, for you grain hounds out there.

-- Ted Swearingen