Todd Johnson Smooth Sphinx with Mammoth (Phalanx) (Q) (2010) Tobacco Pipe

The Sphinx is originally a Bo Nordh design, defined by a crisp ridgeline wrapping the far side of the bowl. Todd Johnson, an American artisan with a masters degree in aesthetics from Yale, offers a refined take on the design here, somehow intuiting the perfect curvature to employ, and the exact place to place the ridgeline to make excellent use of the grain, amplifying stunning striations of flame grain on one side of the line and birdseye on the other. No mean feat, this kind of detail really showcases Johnson's talent both in reading the briar and shaping according to it, and simply cannot be overstated.

Todd has dressed the stummel in a smooth finish and vibrant chestnut stain, making the grain unmissable, and added an accent of mammoth at the shank end, asymmetric in a way that seems to echo the bowl's wrapping ridgeline. One of Johnson's signature design cues, and a much-appreciated feature of one of his pipes in my personal collection, is the diminutive spur on the underside of the transition, rendered here as a subtle magnification of the ridgeline. In my own pipe, the spur offers both an interesting visual component and readily identifiable tactile index point, allowing my hand to find and remember several different comfortable positions to hold the pipe during smoking sessions. Another feature is the slightly bent push-style saddle stem, with a hand-shaped and funneled lip button offering an open draw and a comfortable approach for the lips. Earning Todd's revered Phalanx Q Grade, this pipe is in every way a superlative example of his skill, ready to become the centerpiece in any discerning smoker's collection.