Jody Davis: Sandblasted Bent Pot with Spalted Tamarind (Friar) (A23) (27) Tobacco Pipe

American artisan Jody Davis has carved fine pipes for decades, cultivating a Danish-inflected style that helped popularize the shapes and features of that school in the contemporary American briar vernacular. This bent Pot is an excellent example of Davis's style, featuring his characteristically robust sense of proportion, with a bold, thick-walled bowl at rest on a soft heel at the fore of a gracefully arcing oval shank. Said bowl displays a subtly beveled rim to assist in filling its generous chamber, while the heel is delineated by a soft, subtle ridge that continues through the smooth transition and up the broad shank. Out back, a comfortably bent saddle stem of jet-black vulcanite is accented with a band of spalted tamarind, adding a touch of contrast to the ensemble. Dressed in a rich ruby sandblast, the Friar-grade stummel boasts rugged and defined ring grain all around the bowl, creating plenty of visual and tactile appeal.