Becker: Sandblasted Acorn (Four Clubs) Tobacco Pipe

The Becker pipe workshop has been producing pieces of distinction since the late-1970s and was founded by first generation immigrant Fritz Becker, who fled to Italy from Austria in the 1930s. The workshop is now run by the third generation of the family in Federico Becker, the inheritor of the tradition of pipe making passed down from his father, Paolo, and his grandfather. Federico's shaping style is often quite singular, with certain pieces displaying elements of the English tradition and others with Italian neoclassic leanings, though each showcases a unique sense of design that makes almost all of them signature renditions.

That is indeed the case with this Acorn, as it is thoroughly stylized, though immediately reminiscent of others renditions of the shape in Becker's portfolio. That being said, each of these is different in their own ways, and this one in particular strikes me as the most organically muscular of the bunch, despite its compact size and svelte construction. At just a touch over four and a half inches long, this pipe is eminently pocketable and sits squarely in Nosewarmer territory, its weight of under an ounce making it clenchable as well. The shank and stem are quite streamlined and ebb out of a low-lying transition, with the former given a subtle flare to its end.

On the underside we see a slight rounding that travels to the heel, one that is subdued enough to actually pop out as a pair of ridgelines that travel forward and create a front-facing spur that's immediately recognized as a signature Becker design cue. Not only does this speak to Becker's shaping style and inspiration, but it is also a novel way to incorporate the Acorn's heel spur into the shape, its firmness serving, too, to magnify the plumpness of the top part of the bowl near the rim. Dressed in a deep, inky sandblast, this pipe showcases a beautiful ring-grain pattern around the bowl, its quavering undulations wrapping around it handsomely, each striated by visible, raised vertical grain.