Tsuge Ikebana: Sandblasted Reverse Calabash Volcano (Ohi) (H) (160) (19) Tobacco Pipe

Tsuge Ikebana is a collective of artisan pipe makers that share a workshop and a name, but otherwise craft their pipes individually and completely by hand. The workshop has three members — Fukuda, Ohi, and Kikuchi — and each pipe bears a stamp with the name of the artisan that fashioned that particular piece. This Volcano comes from Yoshirou Ohi, who for many years was an independent pipe maker before joining Ikebana. His work showcases a proclivity for the organic and the stylish, and each pipe he crafts is imbued with his distinctive sense of proportions and his many years of experience.

Though stout and muscular, this Volcano displays a certain sinuousness in profile that immediately draws the eye, its subtle contours evoking the soft features and supple curves of Danish pipe making. As is typical for the form, the bowl here boasts a swift taper from its broad heel to its tauter rim. The ridgeline that often marks the base of the bowl has been extended to encompass the entirety of the stummel, from the fore of the heel to the aft of the shank. By extending the ridgeline, Ohi creates a visual anchor for the eye to track the shape's subtle curvature in profile. Additionally, the ridgeline adds a touch of structural soundness to the shape. The wide, flaring shank offers pleasing balance to the bowl's muscular build, and houses a reverse Calabash chamber, which collects excess moisture as the pipe is smoked. Dressed in an earthy sandblast, the stummel reveals tight waves of grain across the bowl's flanks.