Rusticated Blowfish (Silver) Tobacco Pipe

Of the handful of Blowfish shapes we've seen from Peter Heding over the last few years, this is easily the most different. And it's all in the shape of the thing. He's taken a decidedly less Danish or Japanese interpretation of the form, riffing instead on the sort of American style of Blowfish we've observed from guys like Jeff Gracik, Adam Davidson, or Michael Lindner. We'll find that in the strikingly recessed rim (which was here left cleverly smooth to show off the shape's natural cross-grain), the tight cut-in of the bow down into the heel of the bowl, and the relatively small amount of empty space between the posterior of the bowl and the top of the upward arched shank. Naturally, his execution of the idea is brilliant, and his decision to pair the thing with a half saddle stem that brings up and back the the bottom line of the composition adds a powerful sense of gracefulness to the pipe. Splendid.

-- Ted Swearingen