Smooth Bent Brandy (Kikuchi) (L) (089) (2025) Tobacco Pipe

Tsuge Ikebana, which translates to "living flowers" from Japanese, is Japan's most renowned pipe-making atelier. For over a decade, it was a collaboration between three elite carvers: Kazuhiro Fukuda, Asami Kikuchi, Yoshirou Ohi. Together, they would combine their unique styles and pipe-making experience to craft distinctly Japanese interpretations of Danish shapes. Today, Asami Kikuchi is the sole carver and she carries on the marque's legacy in stride, crafting beautiful smoking instruments such as this bent Brandy.

Kikuchi's portfolio is replete with plump, chubby iterations of classic shapes, and this bent Brandy is no exception. The stummel is underscored by a sweeping curve that informs the bowl's plump heel and lifts the robust shank in the air, where it's joined by a deeply bent saddle stem. The curvature of the shank-and-stem arrangement offers a comfortable smoking posture, and the plump bowl offers a reassuring presence in hand. The stummel showcases a wealth of breathtaking grain, with tight tendrils of flame grain engulfing the bowl and dense pools of birdseye swirling around the rim and along the underside and length of the shank. Said grain is accentuated by a smooth, lustrous, auburn finish, whose vibrant hue works with the expressive, fluid composition to imbue the piece with an overall sense of vivacity.