Jess Chonowitsch: Smooth Mushroom Tobacco Pipe

Jess Chonowitsch seems to achieve something of an alchemical transformation within the realm of briar, transmogrifying the stuff into a seemingly perfect combination of form, proportion, and practicality. What's more, he manages to do this in the most subtle manner imaginable. And to my eye, there's not a shape rendition from Jess more demonstrative of this than his intrinsically simple Horn variants, of which this Mushroom is one.

Coming in at just under five inches in length, this Mushroom is a buoyant number, practically gliding through the air in profile, guided by the domed, forward-gesturing bowl and rim. This convex surface is packed with birdseye, beautifully framed by a vast lower bowl of feathery, ultra-tight flame, guiding the eye all the way to the gentle slip of a saddle stem. All in all, it's a gorgeous rendition of a form not seen terribly often from the legendary Danish pipemaker, but one that we will certainly never tire of. Awesome stuff.