Bill Shalosky: Rusticated Nosewarmer Billiard (424) Tobacco Pipe

Bill Shalosky has an incredible eye for shaping the classic straight Billiard, the relative proportions spot on regardless of overall size. This particular offering is one of the American carver's more compact pieces and is presented in standard Nosewarmer size as opposed to the hyperbolic height of his signature Brow Burner variations. Clean-lined and perfectly shaped, it measures in at about four and half inches in length with a weight of just under 40 grams, making it a veritable pocket pipe that still does well to exemplify Shalosky's often robust, American Industrial sense of proportions. Especially of note, though, is the finish — before these two rusticated offerings in today's update, Bill had only ever fashioned one rusticated pipe, back in 2015. This piece, along with its taller brethren, wear a concisely dimpled style of rustication, catching the light in unique ways like a disco ball. They were also rendered from briar blocks that boast over a decades' worth of age as Bill waited for the perfect time and inspiration to mold them.