Emiliano: Smooth Blowfish Tobacco Pipe

Emanuel de Queiroz Emiliano started smoking a pipe while in seminary as a young man, growing a love for the solitary and singular companionship shared by a smoker and their pipe. As he smoked, Emanuel became aware of the world of artisan pipes, soon discovering the works of fellow Brazilians Gustavo Cunha of MarTelo pipes and Flávia Rodrigues. Inspired by the work of his countrymen, Emiliano made a pipe of his own using only rudimentary tools, meeting success immediately as photos of his first piece drove a wave of commission requests. As he worked and grew his skills as an autodidact, Emiliano established his own workshop in Curitiba, Brazil and later went on to learn under artisans such as Angelo del Prete of Il Cerchio pipes, Angelo Fassi, and Luiz Lavos. Drawing on design schools from across the world, Emiliano crafts pipes that are often complex and sophisticated, evidenced well by this Blowfish.

The Blowfish is something of a contemporary classic pipe shape, having been developed across the Danish, Japanese, and American schools of pipe making in various forms, all of which emphasize a refined asymmetry. What mainly defines the Blowfish shape is the structure of the bowl, separating it into two panels of different sizes and shapes and often stylizing certain lines to resemble the fins of a fish. This particular piece is a strikingly compressed iteration of the profile, affording this pipe an incredible thinness and a remarkably light weight, making for a smoker that can easily be tucked into a pocket. The travel-friendly dimensions of this pipe belie the wealth of detail with which Emiliano has carved it, the more vertical orientation of the briar lending the shank a lengthy, hexagonal outline. Twin panels at both the top and bottom sides surround a pair of flat panels at the flanks of the shank, the crisp, geometric lines curling upward slightly at the underside to infuse the slanted face with a bit of flair. A sleek and gently downturned saddle stem of black vulcanite pairs to the shank at an inlaid band of brass, making for a stable and sturdy push-mount whose sleekness places nearly all of the visual weight on the stummel. The bowl features the iconic shaping of the profile, with a smaller panel on the right side of the bowl seeing the walls taper through to the panel's ridge and a larger, rounded panel comprising the left. Dressed in a warm, auburn-tinged stain, the stummel here showcases dense plains of birdseye across both flanks of the bowl, while the midsection is wrapped with cross grain.