Kei-ichi Gotoh: Sandblasted Bent Apple (0616) Tobacco Pipe

From its plump, nearly spherical bowl to its stout transition and dramatically lifting, extra stout shank, this is pure Gotoh shaping all around. While Kei-Ichi's more sculptural freehand work might first come to mind for some, this style of heavy muscularity, combined with smooth, elegant lines and supple curves, is the aesthetic that I tend to most closely associate with the famed Japanese master — so indicative of his work (for me at least) that it's recognizable from across the room. "Chubby" is a style that many makers and marques have done over the years, but there's just something about Kei-Ichi's seamless execution that sets his iterations apart from the rest — the dramatic taper of the mouthpiece, the softness of the lifting lines along the bottom of the shank, the plump cheeking of the bowl around the transition all give it that polished, honed look. What's more, he's dressed this particular example in a crisp, light sandblast, a style of finish we just don't see all that often from Gotoh, even on the estate market. A must-have for any collector of artisanal Japanese pipes.

- Andrew Wike