Doctor's: Sandblasted Calabash with Bamboo and Polymerized Oak (Double Flash) Tobacco Pipe

When it comes to artisan Calabashes, no one does them quite like Roman Kovalev of Doctor's Pipes. In his years carving pipes, Roman has produced some simply stunning, unmatched pieces, particularly characterized by their sense of organicism and use of alternative mediums.

In the case of this Calabash, the stummel is made of briar, but that's about the only "normal" aspect. The shank consists of an especially eccentric ferrule of bamboo that curves upwards at a 90 degree angle, fitted seamlessly to the stem base, with a protruding "elbow" below. In profile, it comes across as decidedly unique and unnatural, but it actually makes this piece quite the comfortable jaw hanger — as the bamboo's curve allows it to literally rest on the chin. The bowl, then, flares drastically from the shank, as if the briar is growing from out of the bamboo, before terminating at a generously domed chamber-cap made from polymerized oak (fashioned using one of Kovalev's signature techniques). The cap displays an earthy visual texture of milky white mixed with the oak's natural grain, making for a thoroughly rustic aesthetic throughout.

One-of-a-kind designs aren't where Roman's skills end however. This piece is expertly crafted with smoking in mind, from the removable chamber cap to the expertly fashioned stem work to the carver's curved drilled technique that passes a pipe cleaner effortlessly through the unconventionally shaped bamboo. It's simply expert craftsmanship all around, presented in a piece that looks as if it could have been plucked straight from nature, growing out of a rare species of bush in some exotic locale.