Sandblasted Lovat with Boxwood Tobacco Pipe

Ukrainian carver Konstantin Shekita is known primarily for his inventive sculptural designs, but he fashions more conservative shapes with the same level of precision and attention to detail, as this Lovat can attest. Timeless in appearance and execution, this piece possesses all of the form's characteristic features, including a firm Billiard bowl, a protracted round shank, and an abbreviated saddle stem. The overall length is quite compact, however, measuring in at less than fives inches from bowl to bit. Appropriately, the design is lightweight and perfect for on-the-go smoking, and even given the overall size, the bowl retains a stout, muscular appearance and houses a decent chamber capacity. The sleek, minimalist shank-and-stem arrangement keeps the pipe streamlined and tidy in profile, while the cheeked transition lends the bowl a sense of independence within the composition and draws attention to the upwards taper from the plump heel to the rim. The stummel wears a dark sandblast that accentuates the natural grain orientation of the briar, save for the rim, which is left smooth and stained a chestnut color for contrast. The warm boxwood accent at the shank end provides further visual intrigue and really pops against the shadowy complexion of the briar and the vulcanite stem.