Misc. Estates: Martin Paljesek Smooth Dublin Tobacco Pipe

Martin Paljesek is a Slovakian artisan who has been making pipes since 2011, beginning as a part-time artisan while attending college before eventually pursuing the craft full-time in 2016. While Martin crafts excellent renditions of shape-chart standards, his portfolio is largely comprised of organically inclined compositions, though this bent Dublin is a rather sharply styled piece. The underside of this piece is defined by a wrapping ridgeline that flows through the stummel and extends into the base of the stem, outlining the heel and shank and sharpening the lower lines of this pipe significantly. This broad panel is split into two halves by a ridge that starts at the heel and extends out back to the stem base, and its lower position sees the rest of the briar lift toward the outer ridgeline and create a more dynamic, geometric look. Additionally, these firm lines bolster the presence of the bowl and sharpen the heel significantly, drawing the eye to the bowl, whose walls curve forward and flare out expressively and terminate in a crown of plateau. A wide transition out back pairs the bowl to a flaring shank that lifts very subtly and expands out into a semi-ovoid shape, and it's met by a sleek saddle stem of demurely curved, multicolored vulcanite. Dressed in a warm, rich, mahogany-toned stain, the stummel showcases handsome grain throughout, with a good bit of flame grain on the right flank and ample birdseye through the underside.