Misc. Estates: Wojtek Pastuch Smooth Natural Dublin (0920) (Unsmoked) Tobacco Pipe

Wojtek Pastuch of Poland learned his craft from Domenico "Mimmo" Romeo, the famed briar cutter and pipe maker, and from Tom Eltang, whom you may have heard of. He's in Denmark, I think. This particular Dublin is so obviously from a rare and superior block of briar that it's difficult not to think Pastuch used some of his skills picked up at Mimmo's sawmill to select and orient it. It's a large pipe, more than six inches long, and the bowl is very wide. The difference in hues is dependent on the grain, which is spectacular, climbing the bowl with fluidity from the dense birdseye of the heel. The transition is low, with the underside of the shank descending almost subliminally to provide the impression of a curve, especially in conjunction with the design of the heel, which curves up the far side of the bowl in complementary fashion to the downward curve of the upper transition. It's nearly impossible to find an artisan piece of this size, with grain of this quality, yet here it is.