American Estates: J&J Smooth Blowfish (2015) Tobacco Pipe

Formed as the collaborative effort between John Klose and Jared Coles, J&J Pipes served as the starting point for both artisans, allowing them to collaborate with each other freely and successfully and experiment with their personal styles. Since disbanded, the work of the duo continues, with Coles' being represented on our site. This Blowfish is one of the rarer shapes we've received from the ex-pair and it exudes a look which is decidedly avant-garde for the modern classic shape. The presence of the bowl here is amplified not only through a remarkably enhanced size, but an ovoid shaping through the flanks and a unique arrangement of ridgelines which comprise the panels that this shape is known for. These ridges outline the oval shape of the bowl on either side before being pierced through the center by a separate ridge, lending the fore and aft ends of the briar here a pointed look. Additionally, this pair of central ridges mark the broadest point of the bowl, lending their structural lines a further sense of presence in the hand. The panels of the bowl are stylishly asymmetrical, with the left flank tapering through the midsection to the right side's diminished area, both taking on an organic, fin-like shaping at the lower aft area. A broad shank lifts out of a tightly-knit transition and flares out to a plateau-dotted face that matches a kiss of plateau across the bowl's left side, its stylized, paneled length married to a demurely curved saddle stem of jet-black vulcanite. Dressed in a dark auburn-chestnut stain, the briar here showcases a phenomenal pattern of birdseye, both flanks awash with the swirling grain as the middle reveals dense cross grain.