Tsuge Ikebana: Smooth Tomato (Kikuchi) (G) (019) (2022) Tobacco Pipe

The highest form of Japanese flower arrangement is known as Ikebana, a word that translates into English as "living flowers." It's appropriate, then, that this is the name of Japanese marque Tsuge's most superlative pipes, the moniker designating a small workshop that's populated by three artisans, which are known as the "flowers of the pipe world." These briars are brought to life by these artisans, the most senior of whom is Kazuhiro Fukuda, a man who trained under Sixten Ivarsson in 1969 and brought his style to the storied company. His decades of experience have contributed to an impressive career and an immense talent, talent which he has passed down to his apprentice Asami Kikuchi, a graduate of one of the nation's most illustrious art schools.

This Tomato is one of Kikuchi's works, and is a shape she's quite familiar with, her hands extremely talented in rendering all of the soft and supple curves that this shape necessitates. The shank here is a flattened, compressed ovoid that extends just a touch outward from the gently cheeked transition, flaring slightly as it does before rather swiftly expanding into a firmly ridged end. The face maintains the shape of the broad expanse of briar, and meets a demurely curved saddle stem whose base gingerly nestles into a hollowing that surrounds the mortise. Up front, the bowl presents with a charming plumpness that lends the walls plenty of substance in the hand, while its soft contours ensure that it's eminently comfortable every time it is held. Underneath, the curvature that pushes through the shank continues through the heel, its sweeping arc lifting skyward as it nears the bowl and curving into a taper that the aft side completes, forming an offset waist that sits diagonally across the bowl. The aft side's curve is higher than the fore's and terminates slightly higher as well, pushing the aft of the rim higher by proxy and creating a profile that's quite dynamic. Dressing the briar here is a warm chestnut stain that unveils dense streaks of flame grain wrapping around the bowl, while the rim and underside are peppered with birdseye.