Japanese Estates: Tsuge Ikebana Smooth Bent Dublin with Bamboo (Fukuda) (2007) Tobacco Pipe

Kazuhiro Fukuda is the leader of Japanese marque Tsuge's Ikebana workshop, a small outfit of three artisans who carve the brand's most superlative pipes. Known as the "flowers of the pipe world," the Ikebana moniker literally translates to "living flowers" in English, a reference to the highest art of Japanese flower arrangement and to the quality of the work the trio does, as if they breathe life into the briar that they carve through their shaping. Fukuda was a student of Sixten Ivarsson's in the 1960s and went on to mentor a young Kei'ichi Gotoh in 1981. As such, Fukuda's shaping style shows a degree of Danish influence, some of which is present in this distinctive bent Dublin.

This design places a tall, tightly flared bowl atop a subtly rounded heel, capped with a craggy plateau rim, exemplifying the characteristic silhouette which defines much of the Fancy Freehand school. Out back, a smooth transition gives way to a muscular bamboo shank, composed of two knuckles of the pale grass. Said shank joins a comfortably bent saddle stem of black vulcanite, offering an effortless clench. Dressed in a rich auburn finish, the stummel boasts impeccable flame grain all around the bowl.