Jess Chonowitsch: Smooth Dublin Tobacco Pipe

Jess Chonowitsch is a carver who always strives for perfection, fashioning a design over and over again, altering proportions and lines each time in search of the ideal form of the shape. While we don't see the Dublin shape too often from the Danish master, this rendition brings Jess to the cusp of the perfect Dublin.

Delightfully svelte and incredibly smooth of line, the oval shank lends the profile a sleek disposition, terminating at the transition's definition. The bowl isn't as flared as other iterations, Chonowitsch having followed the more upright streaks of grain to inform the amount of flare toward the rim. Balanced out beautifully by the forward cant, the angle of heel and transition curl in unison, and the height of the bowl keeps the piece's proportions traditional.

A subtle inflation of the rim falls into the typical Danish convention, and the pinpricks of birdseye that crown it leave the flanks streaked with flame grain. Like most of Jess's work, it's dressed in a beautifully simple contrast stain of mahogany hues, and the craftsmanship of Chonowitsch's work is the only worthy rival to his immaculate shaping.