Ken Dederichs: Smooth Mushroom Tobacco Pipe

Ken Dederichs' fondness for organic, Freehand-like shapes is on full display with this unique, eye-catching Mushroom design. The Germany-based, Japanese carver has a low annual production rate, as he prizes quality over quantity, so it is always a welcome sight to see one of the carver's designs. Dederichs has crafted a number of different iterations of the Mushroom shape in the past, and it's easy to see why: It's the perfect shape for him to articulate his affinity for stout proportions and supple curves. Though curvaceous in profile, with a consistent undercurve and a shank that flows easily from the bowl, this piece offers some firm, pronounced lines that keep the design muscular and structured. The ridgelines across either flank of the oval shank curl upwards and meet the wrapping ridgeline just below the domed rim. The trajectory and terminating point of the shank's ridgelines accentuate the lifted heel and fluid nature of the pipe in profile. The lifted heel gives the bowl a gestural poise and a forward-surging momentum that keeps the overall shape dynamic. A craggy touch of dark plateau covers the fore and heel of the bowl, offering a touch of tactile and visual diversity, while accentuating the form's naturalistic aesthetic. The rest of stummel wears a stunning, smoothly contrast-stained finish that showcases tight bands of flame grain on either flank of the stummel and plenty of birdseye across the shank and the aft part of the rim.