Askwith: Sandblasted Morta Saucer 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 Saucer by Chris Askwith beautifully encapsulates his simultaneously creative and traditional style. The Saucer itself is an unorthodox shape, but one Askwith crafts with some degree of regularity. Possessed of a squat, palm-filling bowl, the sharply contoured walls are marked by a broad, crisp ridgeline, while, out back, the shank-and-stem arrangement is arrow-straight and sleek. Despite the bowl's exaggerated proportions, the profile is superbly streamlined and balanced in a classically Anglo-French manner. Moreover, the stummel is crafted from morta: a semi-petrified oakwood that's been preserved over the course of millennia within peat bogs, the environment's highly acidic water working to protect the trees from decay. Askwith is quite talented in rendering pipes from Morta, and he's finished this particular pipe in a crisp sandblast, unveiling the material's unique grain patterns and inky tones. What's more, the stummel is paired to a sleekly tapering stem of swirling yellow acrylic, creating a wealth of contrast to appreciate.