Dirk Heinemann: Sandblasted Egg Sitter with Bamboo Tobacco Pipe

We've seen a couple of sitting and standing forms from Dirk Heinemann, and the German artisan excels at crafting inherently organic shapes. This offering fits in well to that style, presenting a pipe that seamlessly blends versatility and playful shaping cues. The bowl sits perched atop its flattened heel spur which enables this piece to sit stably on flat surfaces and highlights Heinemann's attention to balance and proportions.

The aforementioned bowl is remarkably rotund and plump in its shaping, noticeably broader than it is tall. It's been finished in a very light-depth sandblast, with waves of grain lurking underneath the jet-black stain. Dirk has chamfered the rim, leaving it smooth for some subtle contrast and stained a walnut hue to match the heel spur. However, what really steals the show here is the hearty piece of bamboo that extends the shank. Its pale color provides some excellent visual contrast against the stummel's dark color palette while its craggy nodes offer an abundance of fascinating texture to keep wandering fingers entertained. Pieces like this perfectly demonstrate why Dirk Heinemann is one of the most exciting pipemakers in the modern age.