Sandblasted Apple with Silver Army Mount (Two Clubs) Tobacco Pipe

Seems like most pipe carvers fool around with silver adornments at least a little bit, but fortunately for us Paolo works with the precious metal about as often as he works with strawberry wood, morta and different cumberland stems; which is to say often enough to keep his work interesting, fresh and unique. Here the silver army mount plays quite well between the red and black swirling of cumberland and the rough, scraggy texture of sandblasted briar. Although the bowl is approximately the size of a small quince (which might have been a better name for this piece, by the way), much of the potential weight of the pipe has been spared by a short, thin shank and a proportionally long vulcanite stem.

-- Ted Swearingen