American Estates: Alex Florov Smooth Wild Cherry (2018) (Unsmoked) Tobacco Pipe

Alex Florov is an artisan who was born in Russia but immigrated to America and enjoyed a successful career in industrial design before becoming enthralled by pipe making. He is renowned for his sculptural style and for carving his pieces by hand, most often using chisels for incredible precision. With a portfolio full of gestural, creative shapes, this design yet stands out: his signature Wild Cherry shape, a plump, Apple-like bowl with some extra girth to it and a wrapping ridgeline that grows organically from the rim to encircle the bowl's fore and sweep backward, forming the point of a broad, teardrop-shaped shank.

Every curve and line is placed with precision here, with a tucked transition, chamfered rim, and domed shank end with a brass ring inlaid. A push-style stem of hand-shaped vulcanite grows organically upward, expanding to an asymmetric expansion ring that matches the angle of the shank face. A kiss of plateau lives on the shank's underside, a discrete reminder of the natural origin of all of this beautiful grain, and what a fantastic display it is. This is a straight grain pipe, with dense, vertical striations all rising uniformly toward the rim, and mesmerizing whorls of birdseye packing the top of the shank and entire underside.