Bill Shalosky: Sandblasted Bent Dublin with Cocobolo (706) Tobacco Pipe

When American pipe maker Bill Shalosky — also an artisan for the BriarWorks workshop — fashions a bent Dublin, he often caters to renditions like this example, imbuing the design with a soft, Horn-like disposition through the transition. Instead of meeting the bowl at a defined angle, the shank of this pipe gradually curls and expands into the bowl's flare, urging forward and trumpeting upward. That aesthetic is echoed, then, at the opposite end, with the shank also flaring toward the stem. It does so to a lesser degree in that direction but enough to tastefully balance the composition and draw focus to the negative space created above the arched transition. In this particular rendition, Shalosky has also elongated the shank, further accentuating the transition's curvature.

Grounding the form is the gradual, parabolic curve of the underside, balanced by the minuscule recurve of the stem. Having taken ergonomics into consideration, Bill pinched the flanks of the bowl for an oval nature that rests sublimely in hand, suiting the robust proportions, while the transition offers the perfect place to drape a thumb when held. Sandblasted vertical grain intersects with dense, horizontal growths ring, rising in concert to the plateau-crowned rim, and the mahogany stain is accented handsomely by a ring of cocobolo at the shank end. Lastly, while the lines of the stummel are gentle and smooth, the stem base adds some structure, being of smaller diameter than the shank face and flaring slightly toward the bit. Such shaping echoes the flare of the shank, the reduced diameter creating crisp angles of negative space that add intrigue and complexity to the overall composition.