Gabriele: Sandblasted Bent Pot (Turtle) Tobacco Pipe

Gabriele dal Fiume excels at the small details that combine for remarkable smoking instruments. For example, the shank on this piece gently expands to the mouthpiece, but so gradual is the taper that it's almost invisible, though it supports the design element of the stem at the junction where it expands, curves and reduces to the saddle configuration. A low and broad bowl design with a visually interesting bead line circling the bowl just below the rim helps define this Pot. Indeed, the top of the bowl appears almost separate from the stummel and ready to unscrew, though of course it's all one piece of briar and the crisp beadline placement supports the illusion. A medium-craggy sandblast covers the bowl and rim, with stacks of growth rings rising up the flanks and stretching toward the mouthpiece, which is a rich cumberland harmonizing in color with the stain of the bowl. Light, with just the slightest of bends, this sandblasted beauty needs smoking.