Bill Shalosky: Sandblasted Sparrow (749) Tobacco Pipe

Citing "every pipe ever made" as his influence, American artisan Bill Shalosky produces a wide array of shapes, each crafted with the attention to design and detail that have made him a household name among pipe smokers. The Sparrow is a signature shape from Shalosky, being a unique interpretation of the Tomato that further emphasizes the shape's squatness while balancing its supple curvature with firm lines. The shape has evolved over the years, from a Horn-like Freehand, to a more subtly stylized kind of Tomato, and finally to this eye-catching outline. The transition is wide, and it gives way to a semi-ovoid shank that flares out gently toward a softly domed face, assuming a shape that's taller than it is wide. Paired to the shank, a sleek saddle stem is carved to include a firm expansion ring at the base, balancing some of the visual weight before slipping into a slender and demurely downturned saddle bit. A pair of firm ridges frame the underside of the shank and curve up and around the top of the face, with these lower ridges contributing to an impressive muscularity in hand. As these ridges meet the underside of the bowl, they dissipate almost immediately, highlighting the lowest point of the stummel as they descend beneath the transition and grant the heel a remarkable sense of lift. Thick walls stand atop this lifting heel and expand out to a mid-set waistline, nicely insulating a broad chamber and creating plenty of rich curves through the fore. There's a very subtle pinch just before the rim at the fore, drawing the eye to the very edge of the rim and its slight, lip-like overhang: joined by a slight dip in the rim's middle. Dressed in a crisp sandblast and a deep, earthy stain, the stummel showcases handsome grain throughout, with ample birdseye across the flanks.