Michael Butera Vintage Marron Rhodesian with Silver (8) (00B) (91) Tobacco Pipe

Michael Butera is considered by many to be one of the best carvers in America, and the founding father of American pipe making. This Rhodesian from Tim West is a muscular take on the classic shape. The bowl wears a double beadline encircled about a high waist, thus marking the transition from the sandblasted lower bowl's plump curvature to a swift taper toward the smooth rim. The robust shank lifts from the high-set transition, placed just below the ridgeline, with graceful lines joining to a silver-adorned junction and a smartly bent saddle stem. The stummel's majority sandblasted finish, stained a rich chestnut hue, makes for readily visible grain patterns, such as the streaks of flame grain around the bowl.