American Estates: Jared Coles Smooth Acorn with Gold Leaf (2022) Tobacco Pipe

Simultaneously muscular and gestural, this style of Acorn from Jared Coles is a familiar one from the American artisan, merging gracefully sweeping lines with a powerful stance. This particular piece is a sinuously bent and remarkably robust interpretation, the hearty bowl filling the palm effortlessly with its substantial proportions. The teardrop shank's firm ridgeline helps to inform much of the composition's execution, adding some crispness to the design's in-hand feel while also accentuating the bowl's lifted heel and creating a touch of cheeking around the transition. Said ridgeline subtly emerges from the rugged plateau that adorns the shank face and travels along the left side before seamlessly blending with the shaping of the bowl.

My favorite features on this piece are the beautiful grain patterns Coles has extracted from the briar and the accenting touches he's utilized. Tight tendrils of flame grain cascade down the bowl's plump flanks, gorgeously illuminated by a vibrant contrast stain that gives extra definition to each individual strand. Patches of plateau adorn the surface of the concave rim, complementing the shank face and further imbuing an already inherently organic shape with more organicism and rich contrast thanks to their coating in gold leaf. An impressive piece of craftsmanship from Coles with no shortage of spectacular elements to appreciate.