Tsuge Ikebana Smooth Acorn (Fukuda) (M) (167) (2017) Tobacco Pipe

Tsuge Ikebana, which translates to "living flowers," is Japan's most renowned pipe-making atelier. For over a decade, it was a collaboration between three elite carvers: Kazuhiro Fukuda, Asami Kikuchi, Yoshirou Ohi. Together, they would combine their unique styles and pipe-making experience to craft distinctly Japanese interpretations of Danish shapes. Today, Asami Kikuchi is the sole carver and she carries on the marque's legacy in stride. This lovely Acorn, however, was carved by Kazuhiro Fukuda in 2017.

This piece possesses a particularly plump bowl, its supple walls flaring gently toward an inflated rim that frames a tidily chamfered chamber. This Acorn is bereft of the shape's iconic, sharp heel; rather, the underside forms a gentle, lifting curve that extends through the transition and shank. Said shank flares outward as it approaches the stem, and it's ever-so-slightly inflated for a superbly subtle parallel with the rim. This offering's vulcanite stem sports a crisp expansion ring and tapers into a slim, demurely bent bit that concludes at a trim button. Dressed in a smooth, auburn finish, the stummel showcases sensational grain: Wisps of flame grain climb up the bowl's plump walls and transform into a dazzling cluster of birdseye on the rim. For fans of Tsuge Ikebana pipes, especially those carved by Kazuhiro Fukuda, this beautiful offering is not one to pass up.