Clark Layton: Smooth Eskimo Tobacco Pipe

According to our archives, this Eskimo design from Clark Layton is the first such shape we've received from the American carver, making it a most welcome addition. It's a hybrid of sorts between the old Diplomat and Tomato pipes with a bit of Bulldog thrown in for good measure, the Eskimo's roots ascribed to Tom Eltang as he reinterpreted Sixten Ivarsson's Ukulele shape.

Clark's Eskimo is one that seems to display a different "look" depending on the viewer's perspective. In silhouette, for example, the pipe appears more lean; when viewed from above, the breadth of the muscular shank is truly realized. The stocky, low-slung bowl is shaped so that it displays a forward cant and is demarcated below by a single ridgeline that wraps around the stummel. The upper bowl protrudes a bit over the lower, which slopes gently toward the flattened, paneled base, allowing the pipe to sit sturdily upright. The shank tapers toward the bit, with plenty of paneled muscularity buttressing it, the precise line work continuing through the saddle stem. Quite a robust piece, there's plenty of surface area upon which to enjoy the gorgeous grain orientation here. The artisan certainly demonstrates a keen eye for shaping the block of briar to best show off its grain, with a veritable bevy of birdseye cloaking the top half of the pipe and fiery licks of flames populating the lower, all delineated by that wrapping ridgeline and all beneath a honey-blonde stain.