Smooth Acorn Tobacco Pipe

Sergey Ailarov was born in Vladikavkaz in southern Russia and studied music as a young man, later leaving the North Caucasus for Moscow to pursue photography. He began to collect pipes after receiving one as a present for his 30th birthday, then decided to make his own. Stemming from his fondness for art and dedication to the craft of pipe making, he sketches his designs over and over until he has them perfectly memorized, only then beginning to shape the briar.

Sergey gave this Acorn a particularly rotund bowl and a realistic spur that recalls the point of an actual acorn, then found excellent grain for the entire stummel to wear proudly. The piece can even balance on the spur, a thoughtful bit of craftsmanship for the overall profile. Flame grain stretches mightily between the patches of birdseye that circle the rim and splash across the heel, all of it stained a lovely reddish-walnut and finished smoothly for easy appreciation. Further flame grain touches the upturned shank that is capped by the shoulders of the vulcanite saddle stem, which is quite slender as it stretches back to the bit with a light bend. The grain is wonderful and the stain perfectly selected to accentuate it, while Sergey's decision to shape the Acorn with a point gives it a welcome touch of naturalism.