Ken Dederichs: Partially Sandblasted Dublin with Bamboo Tobacco Pipe

Ken Dederich's style is an interesting one, combining German and Austrian design principles often with a more subtle Tokutomi-esque organic cues. That fusion of styles is intriguing in and of itself, as I've always seen the German school of pipe making to be a mix of smooth, soft Danish lines and bold Italian neoclassical proportions. Throw in a touch of the organic, however, and what's left is a composition quite distinctive even amongst the work of similar artisans.

Though perhaps the most reserved design in this initial batch we received from Ken, this bamboo-shanked Dublin is quite representative of that mellifluous melding of shaping styles. The subtly trumpeting bowl carries the majority of the composition's visual weight, as you'd expect from the Italians, yet the sweeping gesture of the transition and the perfect rhythm maintained through the abbreviated shank and two-knuckle stretch of bamboo speaks to the Danish and Japanese aesthetics. Yet no one style outweighs the others; they all blend together to create a beautifully balanced, cohesive design overall.

- Andrew Wike