Il Duca: Sandblasted Pear with Bamboo (B) Tobacco Pipe

Max Rimensi's precise shaping and distinctive finishing skills are clearly realized in this organic Pear. The Italian artisan is known for putting his own creative touches on classic shapes, with this piece's bulbous bowl looking in fact like an inverted form of the fruit for which it's named. The narrow, lifting heel springs forth toward the high-waisted and softly rounded rim, very much like the Pear's Acorn sidekick. A much-abbreviated shank is then extended by three slender knuckles of dark bamboo, then seamlessly topped by a fish-tail style stem of ebony-hued vulcanite. The sleek stretch in back is juxtaposed against the supple, rounded and Danish-like bowl, which is dressed in one of Il Duca's easily recognized contrast-stained sandblasts for a fine-looking pipe with ample chamber depth.