Jared Coles: Smooth Goldfish Tobacco Pipe

Jared Coles' history with pipes starts at his childhood, having been enamored with them ever since the first time he saw his grandfather smoking one. Appropriately, then, he came into the fold as a pipe smoker as soon as he turned 18, discovering the artisan world of pipes while he was in college and further engrossing himself in his passion. He formed the J&J Pipes workshop with friend John Klose after experimenting with pipe making himself, and for eight years they worked together before amicably dissolving the partnership to focus on his own work. The breadth of styles that Coles has explored spans the world, and he draws inspiration from all of these schools of design when crafting his pipes, something which can be seen in this unique Goldfish.

Coles has presented us with a number of unique designs in the past, though this piece stands out even among those, with a decidedly artistic style of carving present throughout the stummel. What strikes me first about this piece is its highly active silhouette, the stummel itself comprising an outline reminiscent of a "U", as the shank and bowl both terminate in line with each other. The transition is tight and nearly parabolic, though it leaves plenty of space to accept a draping digit, the shank itself curling upward before coming to a paneled face at the top. Said face is outlined by a pair of ridgelines that are slightly raised, allowing the face's surface to slowly slope out from the second ridge before meeting a vast swathe of plateau at the far aft side. The most interesting aspect of the shank face isn't just its nearly vertical orientation or uniquely styled carving, but that there isn't a stem paired to it whatsoever. Instead, to preserve the lines of the shank and keep it parallel with the bowl, Coles has married the stem to the plateau-laden aft side shank wall, something we seldom see but which always snatches my attention. Up front, the bowl takes on a low-set, Egg-like outline whose slow, arcing taper to the rim is marked by a low-set waistline that affords it a comfortable feel in hand. Below, the fore edge of the plateau on the underside pushes out into a curved spur which pulls the eye, its organic look combining with the sweeping, fan-like stance of the shank to cultivate a silhouette that's quite true to the look of its namesake carp in motion. Dressed in a vibrant mahogany stain that showcases dense streaks of flame grain rushing toward the bowl, this pipe is lent a wealth of contrast thanks to its vibrant blue stem, though a stunning accent enhances this further: the entirety of the plateau streak lining this pipe's underside has been flaked with gold leaf.