marTelo: Sandblasted Long Shank Zulu Tobacco Pipe

Gustavo Cunha is the man behind Martelo pipes, the Brazil-based artisan discovering his interest in woodworking at age 15 when he began making English bows and arrows from scratch. Cunha's pipe making career had a strong starting point, as his background in furniture design afforded him the use of tools and machinery that could be used to carve briar. In 2013 he visited legendary Danish artisan Tom Eltang who taught him some of the finer points of the carving process, taught him about the tools that he himself uses, and, most importantly, opened Cunha's eyes to the possibility of being a full-time pipe maker. A year later, in 2014, Gustavo did just that, outfitting his workshop with better tooling and devoting himself to the craft.

The last time we've seen a Zulu from Gustavo Cunha was in 2015, and, to date, we have only ever received two of this shape from the Brazilian artisan, with this rendition being the third. Out of these three imaginings, this one carries with it two firsts: it is the only one we have seen in a sandblast (not to mention a tanblast such as this one), and it is the only one of these carved with a long shank. This lengthening alone makes this piece my favorite of the bunch, but I cannot claim that it is the sole reason, as the sleekness of the profile Cunha has created here speaks to a graceful character, something enhanced by the slow flare from the button to the rim, expanding rapidly at the transition for a shape that reminds me of a svelte Horn. For such a long pipe, this piece is quite light at only 34 grams, making it a handy smoker that is easy to hold, but still retains a palpable presence in the hand. The briar, as previously mentioned, is dressed in a deep, crisp tanblast that reveals craggy, blasted birdseye on the fore and aft, with quavering bands of growth rings arcing out on both flanks, the light coloration complimented by a trim length of cumberland stem out back.