Smooth Bent Dublin with Mazur Birch (One Star) Tobacco Pipe

To possess a pipe by Kent Rasmussen is to possess a pipe that is the result of a vision. Every turn is a choice, each bevel a deliberation, any transition is an aforethought. A pipe by Kent Rasmussen is the result of a highly refined, coherent process. And the result is a beautiful, elegant pipe. Consider this Bent Dublin. Here the eye is quickly drawn to the rim, where an obvious, playful asymmetry creates a sense of the organic. In this way, the right side of the rim feels natural and intuitive where it widens into a crescent shaped ridge at an incline. Yet, across the x-axis the pipe is balanced, proportioned, capturing a sense of equilibrium necessary to prevent the piece from tilting towards disharmony in both general composition and sense of visual weight. It's an incredible work, deceptively light in the hand and impressive in structure. Holding a pipe like this is a sure reminder that Kent Rasmussen is one of the best pipe makers out there.

-- Ted Swearingen