Davide Iafisco: Sandblasted Blowfish Tobacco Pipe

With a deep appreciation for the history and craft of pipe making, Davide Iafisco takes inspiration from various schools of design. He studied personally under carvers Teddy Knudsen and Claudio Cavicchi and attended the pipe-making seminars of Jeff Gracik and Adam Davidson. Those influences are obviously present in his work, but Iafisco also transforms and elevates his influences into something completely his own.

The Blowfish is a particularly difficult shape to craft, requiring a keen eye for detail and the ability to maximize the grain of a given block of briar. Judging by this gorgeous rendition of the artisan shape, it seems like Iafisco was more than up to the challenge. As is typical for the form, this piece boasts a playful asymmetry, with two wrapping ridgelines unevenly bifurcating the bowl and lending structural definition to the bowl's flanks. These ridgelines extend out at the transition and form sharp peaks that resemble the pectoral fins of a fish — a shaping cue that thematically complements the design. Like the bowl, the shank possesses a lopsided construction that becomes more pronounced as the outcropping of briar flares toward the stem. As it flares, the shank draws the eye to the stem and its gentle downturn toward the bit, with this gentle downturn promoting a comfortable smoking posture. Dressed in a dark sandblast, the stummel displays gorgeous seas of birdseye across the bowl's flanks and handsome cross grain along the rim and heel.