Bill Shalosky: Sandblasted Liverpool with Fordite and Juma (458) Tobacco Pipe

Like many great pipe makers, Bill Shalosky started his pipe career with restorations and repairs. It's a great way to learn fundamentals about what works and what doesn't, and informs the way a pipe maker will pursue a shape, already having seen the failures of so many design elements and now educated to avoid them. Here we see a Shalosky interpretation of the Liverpool, a shape in the Billiard family and most closely related to the Lovat, its difference being a tapered stem rather than a saddle.

This particular tapered stem is made of Juma, a high-grade, resin-based material of proven strength and durability, used in knife handles and pen making, among other crafts, and able to maintain a silky luster under any daily circumstance, and without oxidation. Here it is visually offset from the stummel by Bill's own accent of Fordite, a colorful material made from layer after hardened layer of automotive paint. In this case, it's the perfect accent for the Juma and briar, truly needing to be seen in person and in three dimensions for full appreciation. This pipe is moderately sized and stained in a subtle combination of black and maroon applications, serving to highlight excellent ring grain around the bowl. Traditionally made with the addition of some non-traditional materials, it's a modernist presentation of a classic and historic shape.