Japanese Estates: Tsuge Ikebana Smooth Blowfish (K) (246) (2004) (Unsmoked) Tobacco Pipe

The Tsuge Ikebana workshop showcases the work of three individual artisans: Kazuhiro Fukuda, Asami Kikuchi, and Yoshirou Ohi. Fukuda helped establish the workshop after Tsuge sent him to Denmark in the '60s and '70s to study Danish pipe design and craftsmanship from Sixten Ivarsson. This Blowfish was handmade by Fukuda in 2004, representative of a form that has since become synonymous with Japanese pipe design. The shape is most often marked by a central panel that divides the pipe lengthwise, with rounded portions comprising the flanks, but many carvers expand upon those characteristic elements with impressive creativity. This Ikebana rendition is an artfully reserved one, comparatively, and while it features that central panel, when viewed in profile, it could easily be mistaken for a traditional bent Apple. Upon closer examination, though, the form takes on a sinuous nature when viewed from above — the defining panel curling through the shank and bowl. Stunning grain further elevates the design as cross grain defines the panel and birdseye populates the rounded sides.