American Estates: Brad Pohlmann Smooth Standing Vase Tobacco Pipe

Brad Pohlmann began carving pipes as a full-time career in 2003, and shares a workshop in Oregon with fellow American pipe maker Silver Gray. This tall, Standing Vase has much in common with the Cherrywood and Dublin shapes, its forward-leaning, hearty bowl displaying a gently inflated, broadly flaring rim delineated by a pronounced, wrapping ridgeline. Said bowl tapers toward a flattened, angled heel, the shaping here precise and presumably quite difficult. Curling upward, nearly vertically, from a high-set transition is the thick, rounded shank and stylish vulcanite stem, the slight downturn near the bit countering the cant up front. The artisan has dressed this piece in a rich auburn contrast stain that does well to showcase a gorgeous array of mixed grain, including a wealth of birdseye freckling the rim, and windswept flame grain engulfing all sides of the bowl and shank. Another example of a striking design by Pohlmann.