Abe Herbaugh: Smooth Tomato with Boxwood Tobacco Pipe

Abe Herbaugh's Tomato renditions have undergone various changes over time, the American carver experimenting with their proportions, length, and materials. Such variations speak not only of Abe's skill as a pipemaker but his ability to reimagine a singular shape in fresh, exciting ways. Over the past year or so, this particular style of Tomato is one Herbaugh has been exploring the most — chubby, compact, and curvaceous.

This offering is a special one as it's the first smooth one we've received from Abe and the first to feature a boxwood accent. It's nearly identical to one we saw previously in its shaping, maintaining the form's nosewarmer length and broad bowl. Said bowl wears its waistline high before tapering into a subtly, rounded heel spur underneath. The boxwood ferrule maintains the bowl's chubbiness, flaring outward with the base of the saddle stem mimicking that flare. The stummel's rich contrast stain highlights whorls of birdseye along the bowl's underside and streaks of vertical grain around the flanks that erupt into even more birdseye along the curvy rim.