While I am pretty reticent to admit it, I just had something of a "Luke Skywalker" moment. Sure I kid around about hearing voices in my head (after all, what's a little psychosis humor amongst friends?), but when I picked up this pipe, I had a strong recall of my grandfather intoning "To elaborate on the established takes talent. To create something that will inspire future elaboration takes brilliance". Granted, not nearly as cool as "Luuuuke... use the Force!", but perhaps more applicable to what I am seeing/feeling with this composition.
Whether future carvers will consider elaborating on the shape before you, only time will tell. I can say that the pipe in front of me is both something utterly new to my experience, and keenly intuitive, and that is one combination of words that I very rarely pair. There are many aquatic inspired shapes out there; Nautilus, Cetaceans, blowfish... the list is pretty daunting. But this fish breaks all of the rules. Like a great Cetacean, there is a profound sense of implied movement, but precious little "lolling and friendly" in the lines. Akin to a perfect fugu, there is the underlying hint of an eminent attack, but no whip like, horizontal play to drive that feeling. Indeed, this pipe achieves a cool shark/barracuda menace, utilizing no asymmetry whatsoever! Sitting on my desk, this Diamond Grade fish demonstrates clean, unsullied lines that I tend to associate with the Streamline Moderne works of Takeo Arita, tempered with just the subtlest hint of Danish sensibility. The grain? This pipe is one of Peter Heding's Diamond grades. That pretty much says it all.
--Bear Graves
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