Davide Iafisco: Partially Sandblasted Blowfish Tobacco Pipe

Inspired in equal measure by the classic Anglo-French marques of old and the contemporary artisan makers of modern times, Davide Iafisco is an Italian artisan whose body of work spans many styles. Starting his pipe making journey in 2010, Iafisco counts Adam Davidson, Teddy Knudsen, Chris Asteriou, and Jeff Gracik among his influences and attended a pipe making seminar held by Gracik and Davidson in 2015. Much of his work is punctuated by clean lines and crisp edges, with supple curves working their way into the fray in pieces such as this Blowfish, an example of the shape that's subtly stylized, though highly technical in its execution.

The first thing that strikes me about this imagining of the profile are those aforementioned curves, as the stummel takes on the look of a balanced, symmetrical arc from the left flank. This puts the outward bulge of both the bowl and the shank in line with each other, the slight upward flick of the shank end appearing as a continuation of the lines at the bowl, offering an impressive contrast to the otherwise asymmetrical shape. When seen from the right, the fore of the bowl appears to push out more, drawing the eye forward, though it maintains the sweeping lines and complex shaping of its opposite side.

The Blowfish is a shape defined by its asymmetrical properties and this is an iteration of the profile that comes with no shortage, the entire stummel possessed of a slight leftward curve which lends the piece a dynamic look, as if it were in the process of swimming. Either flank of the bowl showcases a panel that wraps around its totality, with the left's being smaller than the right's and each one seeing briar push out at the lower aft side like fins, the right side's slightly larger than the left. Additionally, the right flank sees its fin-like structure interacting with a wrapping ridge that runs around the shank, curling over the top and pushing through either flank, here joining the ridge in an aerodynamic series of sinuous lines. The shank build is actually rather unique here, with the only rigid aspects coming from that wrapping ridge and a single ridge pushing through the underside, the continuation of the right side ridge as it follows the outline of the panel there. Dressed in a crisp sandblast throughout most of the stummel, the panel of the bowl's left flank and the rim are left smooth, revealing beautiful grain beneath their chestnut stain while a demurely downturned cumberland stem offers some visual contrast.