Dirk Heinemann: Sandblasted Blowfish with Ox Bone Tobacco Pipe

With a master's degree in design from the University of Hanover and a background in furniture design and carpentry, German artisan Dirk Heinemann was well equipped to begin a career as an artisan pipe maker, both literally and figuratively. What I mean by this is that he possessed the necessary skills and imagination for thinking up and making amazingly creative designs, but also a fully-kitted workshop that could be used for his new passion without too much retrofitting. His main focus for his pipes is for them to be elegant, functional, clean, and fluid, all of which are present in this Blowfish: a complex and beautiful example of the freedom afforded by this modern classic shape.

Something Heinemann excels at is line interaction, especially with regard to ridgelines, and this is a skill that's plain to see here, thanks to the five ridges which surround the shank, each flowing further into the stummel. The top two of these push forward and dissipate as they reach the transition, with the rightmost reaching the bowl, urging outward, then wrapping around to form the panel on that side. The panel on the left perhaps best demonstrates his ability to lend lines a life of their own, as it comprises two individual raised ridges, both starting at the underside, which branch off into different directions before meeting at the rim. There's an appreciable curvature to this pipe's stummel that's enhanced by his smart usage of these ridges, the outline here sweeping forward from the aft with a gentle lift at the heel as the briar nears the bowl.

This is a piece that's full of subtle shaping details for one to appreciate, of that there is no question, and it's a pipe that's sure to stand out in one's collection. This is not just due to its excellent shaping and novel design, but because of the rich contrast between the inky black sandblasted stummel and the pale white ox bone accent at the shank end, the former showcasing fields of blasted birdseye across both panels of the bowl.