Ken Dederichs: Partially Sandblasted Mushroom Tobacco Pipe

Ken Dederichs has crafted quite a few of these Mushroom renditions, the organic asymmetry informed by Danish and Japanese influences. The Japanese born, Germany-based artisan maintains a low annual production rate, the Mushroom being a signature design of sorts.

Appropriately named, the forward-ebbing bowl's domed and asymmetrical rim slopes gradually downward, where it's demarcated by an encircling ridgeline that further accentuates the tapered rim. The lower bowl and heel sweep upward in a sinuous, fluid undercurve, while the elongated and high-set transition draws the eye to the form's muscular shaping. The shank curls upward, the flaring end also irregularly designed, the naturalistic aesthetic throughout this piece remarkable for its purposeful imprecision. An expansion disc at the base of the vulcanite stem continues the trajectory established by the shank design, the silhouette quite alluring and handsome.

This piece is dressed in a dark, low-profile sandblast, highlighting stunning growth rings throughout — a testament to the artisan's keen eye in shaping the briar to best accentuate its grain. The inner rim, shank face, and entire underside are smoothly stained a handsome mahogany hue which does well to showcase beautiful whorls of birdseye along the pipe's undercurve.