American Estates: J.T. Cooke Partially Sandblasted Bent Billiard (OKF) (2003) Tobacco Pipe

A professional carver since 1975, James T. Cooke started his career by joining Jorg Jemelka and Elliot Nachwalter in founding Vermont's Briar Workshop, going into business for himself a few years later. While crafting pieces of his own make, he also carved for several different American companies and headed restoration for Barry Levin, arguably the originator of the idea of the estate pipe. Cooke is known best now for his exhaustive five-step sandblasting technique, something that this bent Billiard from 2003 showcases quite well. Not only does it display his sandblasting ability excellently, but also one of his lesser seen smooth finishes, as this is the first partial sandblast we've ever come across from the experienced artisan.

Shape-wise, this is an extremely robust pipe, with a palpable thickness present in every element of its build, despite measuring in at under five inches long from button to rim. The stem here is a lengthy taper of hand-poured, jet-black acrylic, married to a sharply upturned shank that lends the composition a beautiful stance and a very comfortable smoking posture that lends itself to jaw-hanging despite weighing over a fifth of a pound. The tapered orientation of the stem allows the plunging curves of this piece to really shine through, with a consistent undercurve that draws the eye toward the bowl and accentuates the supple shaping of this piece overall. Said bowl stands atop a rounded, arcing heel and is possessed of a low-set waistline which not only gives the digits a plump place to wrap around, but informs a Brandy-esque taper to the rim that's quite alluring, growing to over two and a half inches tall. Holding a thoroughly capacious chamber within, the bowl serves as an excellent canvas for a massively textural, inky sandblast, revealing ripples of undulating growth rings beneath, while dual portions of spade-shaped smooth briar on the flanks provide levity.