Askwith: Sandblasted Bulldog Tobacco Pipe

English artisan Chris Askwith is one of few artisan pipe makers in the country, and his personal style often hews close to classic Anglo-French design, with sleek, precise shaping and balanced proportions displayed throughout his portfolio. This Bulldog is a great example of his work, and it presents an archetypal example of the timeless shape that admirably showcases all the profile's iconic details. The transition is wide, with plenty of room to drape a digit, and it gives way to a rather thick, diamond-shaped shank that extends to meet a sleekly tapering stem of vibrant, sunny acrylic. The taper of the stem slenderizes the aft portion of this pipe nicely and subtly places more emphasis on the bowl, though the overall look of this piece is smartly balanced. Up front, the bowl stands on a firm heel defined by the lowest ridge on the shank, and it grows flaring walls that expand to a high-set waist marked with twin beadlines that additionally denote the Bulldog's quintessential taper to the rim. Dressing this pipe is a crisp, richly textural tanblast, one revealing a sunburst pattern of rippling growth rings on the left flank and a swath of blasted birdseye across the right, the tones of the finish complemented well by the expressive yellow hues of the stem.