Tsuge Ikebana: Sandblasted Acorn Sitter (Fukuda) (G) (058) (2021) Tobacco Pipe

Consisting of three highly skilled artisans, Tsuge Ikebana represents the artistic arm of the Tsuge workshop. It's led by venerated master pipe maker Kazuhiro Fukuda, who apprenticed under Sixten Ivarsson and other Danish legends. The name "Ikebana" translates in English to "Living Flower" and is the highest form of Japanese flower arrangement, meant to imbue peace and encourage appreciation for the natural world.

This Acorn Sitter was fashioned in 2021 by the master himself, who has in later years been stepping back a bit from the everyday machinations that comprise Japan's most successful workshop. Danish design is predominantly seen in this hearty, organic shape, its flaring, concave rim softened further softened by its high-set plumpness. The rim's lip at the fore cants forward and is accentuated by a wrapping, gentle ridgeline that's amazingly more dominant at fore and aft, less so on either flank. The robust bowl is paired to a lifting, subtly flaring shank that emerges from a mid-set transition, the precise shaping leaving negative space above and below, rather like a Cherrywood. The shank face, too, is notable for its encircling ridgeline, mirroring that of the rim and features a very trim brass inlay for support. It's topped by a hand-cut, jet-black vulcanite stem that angles upward, its stylish expansion disc near the base continuing the trajectory and rhythm established by the shank and inlay. The acclaimed artisan has dressed this piece in an extra-dark, craggy sandblast that does well to unveil handsome growth rings while providing plenty of textural and visual stimulation. The all-black color palette bespeaks a formality and sophistication that is quite compelling.