Bill Shalosky: Sandblasted Bent Dublin with Mammoth (550) Tobacco Pipe

Getting his start in the pipe making world as a restoration specialist for the Smoker's Haven workshop, American artisan Bill Shalosky soon found himself crafting their handmade pieces before starting work with Premal Chheda, all while making pieces under his own name. In 2015, he joined on with the group of artisans that comprise BriarWorks, working alongside Pete Prevost, Micah Redmond, and Sam Adebayo, to create their line of premium pipes at an affordable price, though still continuing to make his own artisan pieces. His background in fine arts and his pipe-making afford him a keen eye for both design and craftsmanship, and his deep appreciation for classic and contemporary forms alike lends his pipes a unique outlook on that design, something that can be plainly seen in this bent Dublin.

While at times Shalosky crafts pipes of an understated, subtle shape, this bent Dublin is decidedly not that. Immediately I am struck by the bowl, and it's hard not to be, as the visual weight that it takes up is great, and its blooming flare places it to attention. That's not to say that there isn't balance present here, as there certainly is, but there is a detail about this bowl which keeps me staring: the dip in the center of the rim. Yes, this can be carved out, crafted to plunge through the middle while rising on either flank, but the rim's crown of natural plateau makes that impossible, meaning that Shalosky has chosen an incredible piece of briar for this shape, one which includes that natural divot on its exterior, free from flaws. In addition, the eye-drawing nature of the bowl leads you to the fore, thanks to the bowl's own forward cant, and from there you may follow the sweeping undercurve of the shape from the edge of the rim to the shank face, this curve nearly parabolic in its consistency of line, a truly impressive feat.

The transition is rather tightly knit, though leaves plenty of room to drape a thumb, and from here you can see a gradual flare of the shank in profile, but, when viewed from above, this expansion is much more pronounced, as it reaches out horizontally to meet a trim band of black vulcanite. Paired to this accent is a thick fitment of mammoth bone, one whose end is quite craggy, emulating the plateau of the rim quite well, with the entire stretch balancing both the visual weight of the bowl and its more vertically oriented flare thanks to its horizontal expansion. From here a trim saddle stem takes hold, with a demure downturn that is positively elegant, the entire form taking well to being cradled in hand. Dressing the briar here is a craggy, earthy sandblast that reveals rippling ring grain undulating up the bowl from the heel, the color contrast offered by the mammoth at the shank end handsome and welcome.