Scott Thile: Sandblasted Bent Apple with Bamboo (421) Tobacco Pipe

Scott Thile doesn't often work with bamboo, and when he does, the American carver is especially fond of this slightly bent, canted Dublin iteration. For this year's American Pipemaking Exposition, though, Scott deviated slightly from that flaring form, instead presenting this plump Apple. In profile, it still displays a slight bend at the mouthpiece, but the form is marked by a rounded bowl, whose curves echo the undulating line of the bamboo.

Three evenly spaced knuckles comprise the shank extension, and Scott has incorporated them well into the composition — the base of the saddle stem being perfectly positioned in rhythm and neatly paneled and flared to emulate the look of a fourth knuckle in silhouette. At the bowl, then, the wavy lines of the bamboo continue into the slightly protruding, rounded heel before curling up the bowl's fore. Fitting naturally in hand, the bowl is dressed is low-profile sandblast and auburn stain, the finish complementing the tones of the bamboo for a naturalist, organic color palette and overall visual texture. When viewed from above, however, the plump nature of the bowl is traded for a more streamlined disposition, the flanks of the bowl pinched to urge the form sleekly forward.