Dirk Heinemann: Sandblasted Tuban with Mahogany Tobacco Pipe

A minimalist design at heart, Dirk Heinemann's Tuban is a charmingly compact shape and expertly exemplifies the German artisan's creative style. Tom Eltang is known for his signature Tubos, and Heinemann has his Tuban. It was initially conceived after the German artisan was experimenting with the Rhodesian shape, sketching out various shank designs that experimented with its length, breadth, and degree of bend. After taking a well-deserved break, Dirk came back to his drawings with fresh eyes and realized that the Rhodesian's shank could actually be a shape itself. This Tuban is the result of that process, displaying a cylindrical shaped bowl that runs along a gradual, continuous curve. Over the years Heinemann has tweaked his design, presenting it in varying finish and color combinations, but this particular rendition is my favorite one yet. It's been finished in a stellar sandblast, with concentric rippling of ring grain creeping up the entire length of the bowl. It's then tastefully topped off with a generous mahogany mount, displaying some fascinating grain of its own.