Chris Asteriou: Smooth Bent Dublin with Bamboo Tobacco Pipe

Greek artisan Chris Asteriou's work displays a deep love for timeless classics of both Danish and Anglo-French design, his renditions of chart-standard shapes always showing reverence to the shaping pioneers that came before him. His career as an architect and education in industrial design have afforded Asteriou a remarkably refined sense of style, one that centers around compositional balance, cleanliness of line, incredible finishing work, and fantastic function. This bent Dublin displays a striking, flowing style about its build, with a silhouette that's immediately evocative of the Pickaxe thanks to its eye-catching angularity and a smartly poised shank and stem that make for easy hands-free smoking.

The transition is rather wide, sitting near the middle of the bowl and giving way to a short shank out back that tapers swiftly as it lifts toward the aft side. The end of this shank is appended with a curling length of bamboo whose trajectory expertly matches that of the shank, creating a continuous curve across both materials that maintains a measured flow, even through the stem. Comprising four knuckles of the dense grass, this organic extension boasts a delightful rhythm and several divots between these knuckles, with two such divots on the right flank being extended into both the shank and a trim band of black vulcanite capping the end of the bamboo. This band of vulcanite acts as the junction to a matching saddle stem with some subdued styling at its base, complete with a flare out toward the bit that's constrained at the flanks for an undulating look: extending the rhythm of the bamboo further. Up front, the bowl stands on a sharp, pointed heel spur that's oriented toward the aft side, where it forms a crisp edge thanks to a small ridge across its surface. This heel gives way to some dramatically flaring walls, especially at the fore, where the wall sweeps forward and lifts toward the rim while maintaining a consistent curvature that keeps this pipe comfortable in hand. A broad crown of plateau caps the rim and further highlights the organic aspects of this piece, with the heel, bowl, and bamboo extension balancing the visual weight fantastically so the eye is called to appreciate all aspects of this pipe's composition. Dressed in a warm, rich, mahogany-tinged stain, the stummel displays flame grain wrapping around the bowl and running through the flanks of the shank, with ample contrast offered by the bamboo extension.