David Huber: Smooth Flounder (2319) Tobacco Pipe

A fish-inspired piece both in name and form, this Flounder from David Huber plays with perspective and utilizes one of his conventional features: a slender, vertically pinched shank. The shank is most often seen characterizing the American carver's signature Razor Egg shape and is compressed at the flanks to prompt a trim design when viewed from above. It's in this feature that Huber plays with the shape depending on the vantage point from which it's viewed — in profile, the shank is broadly splayed, reminiscent of the wide body of the fish for which it's named and boasting a high level of forward momentum in the shank's subtle curl and forward posture of the chamber. From above, though, the design takes on a much more streamlined aesthetic, accentuating the plump, Ball-like bowl up front. It's all marked by an absolutely stunning cross-grain pattern. Dressing it in a vibrant contrast stain, David has highlighted dense seas of birdseye at the flanks, the right side kissed with a tiny section of plateau that blends seamlessly with the swirling whorls of grain and is only readily apparent in hand.