Todd Johnson Smooth Matador with Bamboo (AL4) (2004) Tobacco Pipe

One of America's most well-respected and highly esteemed pipe makers, Todd Johnson crafts a wide variety of shapes, but his sculptural designs are perhaps his most stunning, as they best showcase the American carver's creativity and eye for visual flair. This Matador piece is a fine example of his pipe-as-sculpture aesthetic. Johnson has orientated the bowl of this piece so that the flared rim and curved, pointed heel are in profile when viewing the pipe from the perspective of the mouthpiece, a unique shaping choice that gives the smoker of the pipe the ability to fully appreciate the graceful, crescent-like curvature of the bowl. The bowl is poised at the fore of an abbreviated shank that's extended by four knuckles of warm bamboo. Each node of the organic material is evenly spaced, providing a sense of visual rhythm to the composition that's easily traced from the low-set transition to the start of the tapered stem. A warm, auburn smooth finish commends the briar and highlights the sweeping flame grain on either flank of the bowl quite beautifully.