Jerry Zenn: Smooth Tomato with Bamboo Tobacco Pipe

Taiwanese carver Jerry Zenn's former career in auto mechanics has readily informed his current profession as an innovative pipe artisan with the same meticulous attention to detail and unerring precision, which is especially evident in this Tomato rendition.

A particularly organic piece that speaks to Danish design influences, the gently contoured, plump bowl offers a lifting heel and a dynamic sense of forward momentum. The abbreviated shank is then integrated with pale bamboo, the carver having sanded down the gnarly nodes and used epoxy to stabilize it. We've seen this unique, bespoke take on bamboo from Jerry before, but it's certainly uncommon in the broader realm of pipe making. The flared bamboo accent is topped by a smooth band of boxwood which gives way, then, to a short, hand-cut vulcanite stem, its expansion disc continuing the circular shaping trajectory of the boxwood. This compact, voluptuous piece is dressed in a rich auburn stain that defines the briar's stunning array of flame grain and whorls of birdseye, with dark plateau at the heel lending textural and natural contrast.