American Estates: Todd Johnson Smooth Freehand with Bamboo (AL5) (2003) (Unsmoked) Tobacco Pipe

Todd Johnson is an iconic American pipe artisan with a sculptural style and decades of experience turning out exemplary, bespoke pipes like this smooth Freehand. This is one of his earlier pieces, and shows how his Masters degree in Aesthetics and natural penchant for artistry gave him a head start in the craft, with a wave-like bowl that reminds me of a gestural Acorn and a steep shank giving it a graceful, quite vertical profile.

The rim is reverse-canted and rounded, the line work sweeping down and around a curvaceous aft, while the front features a concave swale leading into a unique spur at the heel that the pipe can balance on. A light, smooth, honey-hued finish shows how expertly Todd shaped to the grain, with windswept striations running across the rim and along the flanks amplifying the pipe's implied momentum. Three knuckles of pale bamboo reach upward as if they are growing toward the sun, and are topped by a well bent tapered vulcanite stem, expertly hand-cut to promise a comfortable smoke. This exemplary pipe remains unsmoked, making it an excellent opportunity to get your hands on some of Todd's remarkable work.