Clark Layton: Smooth Whale Tobacco Pipe

Clark Layton, like many American carvers, displays an obvious Danish influence in his work. He often crafts highly organic designs that are full of supple curves and flowing lines, but they're also carefully balanced and harmoniously constructed. This Whale is the first we've seen from the artisan, and it could be found just as easily in an art museum as it could on someone's pipe stand. This is a true pipe-as-art piece, and as the name implies, it's shaped to approximate the appearance of a whale. Almost Horn-like in its build, the stummel tapers across its length, from the broad, driving fore to the far more slender aft side. As the stummel tapers, a gradual curvature takes over and sweeps the aft side upward into a cresting curl, forming the shape's "tail."

Crisp ridgelines wrap around the fore, underside, and flanks of the stummel and add a sense of definition to the shape, especially when considering it in profile. The ridgelines give the eye a visual anchor in which to trace the form's curvature and reinforce the form's robust, muscular build. Dark, rugged patches of plateau rest around the chamber and on top of the tail, adding a touch of organicism to the composition. A warm, auburn-hued smooth finish dresses the rest of the briar and showcases tight licks of flame grain across the stummel's flanks and a constellation of birdseye across its top. It's a simply breath-taking design, and it will no doubt become a favorite among any pipe smoker's collection.