Smooth Acorn with Bamboo (25) (2025) Tobacco Pipe

Chris Asteriou is a self-taught Greek pipe maker with a background in architecture and design. Classic English and contemporary designs dominate his portfolio, with each of his pipes striking a delicate balance between form and function. He's known to use organic materials, such as bamboo or corian, to act as inconspicuous, yet elegant accents. The bowl of this Acorn blossoms from the narrow heel like the mushroom cloud of a volcanic explosion as it rises through the atmosphere. Plateau froths atop the rim, framing a moderately capacious chamber suitable for a variety of blends and life's occasions. The shank is short, tapering swiftly through its abbreviated length from the transition into the five-knuckled bamboo shank extension. The orientation of these knuckles is interesting because they all point backward, whereas the bowl's dense flame grain blows forward. This creates a nice juxtaposition of line direction for a sense of balance. Punctuating the pipe's aft, the gracefully bent vulcanite stem joins to the bamboo shank extension via a push mount arrangement, which is reinforced by a metal ring embedded into the bamboo's face. Dressed in an auburn-stained smooth finish, the stummel shows off some outstanding grain throughout.