American Estates: John Jensen Smooth Tomato with Bamboo (2015) Tobacco Pipe

John Jensen is the American artisan behind Rev's Pipes, and his shaping style boasts a sophisticated, highly organic sense of line that lends itself well to shapes such as this Tomato. We've only seen a few pipes from Jensen in the past, and this Tomato strikes me as the squattest, most rotund piece we've come across from him yet, doing well to represent the archetypal ideal of its namesake. The bowl here is massively round, with a compressed height that's dwarfed by its shocking breadth, coming in at almost two and a half inches in diameter: building remarkably thick walls around the comparatively petite chamber. A wide transition out back gives way to a trim, slightly tapering shank extended by six densely-packed knuckles of bamboo, the accent enhancing the organic look of this pipe a great deal. A trim, slim, and demurely downturned saddle stem of black vulcanite marries to the bamboo at a subtly stylized accent of matching vulcanite, keeping the lines of this piece distinct and relatively in-line with the bowl. Dressing the stummel is a deep, rich, chestnut-hued stain that reveals wrapping flame grain around the bowl's circumference, while the underside displays a dense ocean of birdseye: all contrasted handsomely by the pale tones of the bamboo.