Ping Zhan: Contrast Sandblasted Blowfish with Horn Tobacco Pipe

Ping Zhan began his professional life as a software engineer, all the while dreaming of a fulfilling career as an artist until, after taking notice of pipes and pipe smoking, he found a way to express himself. He began carving in 2011 and is completely self-taught, taking inspiration from the Japanese and Danish schools of design, with this Blowfish excellently displaying his uncanny talent for precise shaping and clean lines.

Like many of Zhan's other Blowfish designs, this piece displays a particularly sleek silhouette, creating a sweeping arc from bowl to bit. Said bowl receives most of the emphasis in this piece, rendered in a sharp lenticular cross section, with a fore defined by a crisp ridge that juts strikingly outward, a motion which is mirrored by the aft. The bowl's flanks are no less impressive, with the left side defined by a supple curve, while the right adds a subtle ridge to its counterpart, which runs smoothly into the transition. Said transition is the most technically impressive feature of this pipe, taking the rear ridge and drawing it dramatically outward to the left, creating a sweeping, fin-like protrusion which is matched on the right side by a similar ridge that bursts forth from the paneled shank. Said shank is composed of six panels, the bottom two of which are created by wrapping the bowl's forward ridge around the heel and through the transition. The shank curls gently upward to meet a lengthy horn extension which culminates in a flared, domed junction to a sleek and comfortably bent saddle stem of black vulcanite. The stummel is dressed in a crisp contrast sandblast, creating a wealth of finely textured grain around the bowl, highlighted in rich black and ochre hues.