American Estates: Adam Davidson Sandblasted Figu (2019) Tobacco Pipe

Stylistically, Adam Davidson's oeuvre draws on design schools from across the world, with particular influence from the Danish and Japanese masters reflected in his keen eye for measured asymmetry and effortlessly organic composition. The Figu was first introduced in 2018 at the West Coast Pipe Show in Las Vegas, a hybrid shape that fuses Davidson's Fig and Hiroyuki Tokutomi's Fugu both in style and name. The Figu is an especially expressive hybrid, showcasing the profiles of both shapes at once, depending on one's perspective. Here, the Fig is seen on the left and the Fugu at the right, the two separated by a central ridge across the underside, which curls up at the fore and dissipates at the rim. This ridge creates an implied line through the aft side of the bowl in concert with another ridge at the right side of the shank, whose trajectory forms a fin on the lower bowl: creating the Fugu's iconic outline but only on that side. On the left, the bowl showcases a significantly more round silhouette, with plump walls that flare to a high-set waist, while the lower aft side of the bowl has been carved with a blunt spur to complete the Fig's requisite set of features. In the standard Fig shape, this spur comes directly out of the underside, allowing for easy sitting, and it's still functional here, the central ridge and spur situated in just the right way to allow this pipe to rest comfortably while leaning slightly. A wide transition out back gives way to a curling, ovoid shank that flares out to a domed face, the apex of its expansion marked by a ridgeline, with the domed surface featuring a brass inlay to sturdily push-mount this pipe's sleek saddle stem. Dressed in a crisp, inky sandblast, this pipe showcases handsome grain, with blasted birdseye across the flanks of the stummel and a serious palette thanks to the stem's black vulcanite.