J. Alan: Sandblasted Bent Egg (1169) Tobacco Pipe

Over the past couple years the Eggs we've seen from Jeff have mainly fallen into two camps: those with briar shanks that were somewhere between chubby and very stout, and those with bamboo shanks that were long and a lean, and trim of bowl. In this case, a bit of each comes to meet. Bowl, transition, and shank are all of the trimmer (and in the case of the bowl, also taller) sort, but the shank itself is briar, and the overall length of the design is kept on par with those curvier and fuller-bodied pieces. Call it a happy middle ground then — certainly it looks good in its own loftier and longer-lined, but not full-blown willowy way, and it definitely is a form that feels at home in hand.

- Eric N. Squires