Scott Thile: Sandblasted Bent Egg with Celluloid (FH) (263) Tobacco Pipe

The neo-classical bent Egg/Brandy might well be my desert island shape; there's simply so many charming aspects about the shape that I lost count eons ago (there would have to be, or it wouldn't be my favorite shape, what?). One characteristic that always puts a smile on my face are the signature "cheeks" that form where the under travel of the round shank hooks up with the bowl. Did I say 'round shank'? (looks). Well, stuff my ears with jam and stake me to an anthill! Until this remarkable interpretation by Scott Thile, I assumed that the same effect couldn't have been pulled off with a square shank. I stand corrected. While hardly the first time that I have run into a juxtaposition of a square shank and a round bowl, Scott's election to 'run bold' with the size of the former fascinates the heck out of me, much in the way a lot of M.C. Escher's prints do. The white accent on the mount is a nice touch and, like all of Scott's sandblasting efforts, the grain is right-wicked.