Askwith: Sandblasted Saucer Tobacco Pipe

Chris Askwith's penchant for creating artful, contemporary takes on shape chart standards is clearly demonstrated in this Saucer design. The low-lying bowl boasts a quite broad rim, the domed effect more flattened-out, and featuring a pronounced, demarcating ridgeline beneath for an aesthetic similar to that of the Rhodesian. The lower bowl rises up to meet the ridgeline perfectly, really encapsulating the look of saucers, or, perhaps more whimsically, a "flying" one. It's a testament to the English carver's precise shaping acumen that the top half is actually slightly concave curling up to meet the rim, with a rounded shank stretching out in back to meet one of the carver's colorful polyester stems, this one a baby blue with inky streaks. The dark hues of the mouthpiece are echoed, then, in the dark sandblast covering the stummel, all culminating in a fetching color palette.