J. Alan: Partially Sandblasted Dublin (1515) Tobacco Pipe

In the past, most of the straight Dublins we've received from Jeff Gracik of J. Alan pipes have been his iconic Pint Glass renditions. Often accented with horn, those pieces display a classic Dublin form but in an abbreviated size overall. In this rendition, Jeff returns to his roots, so to speak, offering up a highly traditional, Danish-inspired form, free of adorning accents and boldly classic in its appeal.

As is often the case when fashioning his exquisite pipes, Jeff's informed deeply by the Danish school, and in this piece specifically, inspiration comes from a certain Jess Chonowitsch straight Dublin design. Endowed with gentle lines and an arrow straight disposition, Jeff cants the bowl slightly forward to balance out the shape, catering to Chonowitsch's Lovat-esque shank and saddle stem combination. In his own style, though, Gracik accentuates certain aspects of the form — the heel here being firmer and more classically English, with the bowl flaring more drastically into the softly inflated rim.

I love the American artisan's choice of finish for the rim too, wearing a deep, smooth Bruyere stain to match the ruby-tinged hues of the sandblast below. With plenty of invited texture, the sandblast is consistent and crisply adorned with intersecting straight grain and blasted rings. It's a gorgeous interpretation that does well to combine English and Danish shaping cues, all within the context of Jeff's masterful craftsmanship and artistic eye.