Smooth Billiard with Bamboo Tobacco Pipe

Now here's another gorgeous little number from the likes of Jeff Gracik. This Billiard so clearly demonstrates the carver's mastery of design, its perfection of composition is almost easy to gloss entirely. But look closely enough and you'll discover its superlative symmetry, precise tapering, and balanced transitions (particularly from shank to bamboo and then from bamboo to saddle stem). Additionally, the piece is replete with wispy, suitably oriented straight grain that lends the pipe a supplementary sense of shapeliness and character. With work like this it's no wonder that the Jeff remains one of the most praised American pipemakers on the scene.

-- Ted Swearingen