Chris Asteriou: Smooth Egg with Corian Tobacco Pipe

Given his background as an architect and industrial designer, it's no wonder that Greek carver Chris Asteriou possesses such a masterful understanding of not just what makes a pipe beautiful but also functional. Asteriou is equally at home fashioning Anglo-French classics as he is crafting distinctive, highly sculptural smoking instruments. This Egg finds the Greek artisan working in a traditional mode, reinterprating an old-school design in a modern and novel way.

An incredibly gracile take on the classic form, this piece boasts a wide transition that marks the start of a trim shank and a long, demi-Churchwarden stem. The shank-and-stem arrangement, though quite protracted, remains fairly subdued within the overall composition, its lithe dimensions keeping the aft sleek and minimalist in relation to the pipe's fore. At said fore, a plump, full-bodied bowl stands atop a subtly lifted heel and grows supple walls that take on an arcing taper to a taut rim, rounding out the bowl's midsection. A steep slope along the bowl's aft wall emphasizes the raised slant of the rim's fore, fostering a sense of forward-urging dynamism throughout the totality of the bowl, with this active posture being accentuated in profile by the more static lines of the shank and stem. A warm, rich smooth finish dresses the ensemble and highlights handsome grain throughout the stummel, the finish's bright complexion complemented by a band of Corian at the junction.