Larry Roush: Sandblasted Pot with Rope Finish Silver (S5) (2594) Tobacco Pipe

Larry Roush is an American pipe artisan and functional philomath who benefited from the tutelage of Mike Butera early in his career, and now has several decades of experience under his belt. Larry's pipes often portray classic English shapes with a distinct nuance evocative of Italian neoclassic proportions, a tradition which this straight Pot veers close to, while keeping more moderate overall dimensions. The bowl is hearty in width, and pushes a bit higher than one might expect, but is matched to a stout shank and stem to create a classic profile with a bit of extra muscularity around the heel.

The finish here shows off Larry's skill in the blasting cabinet, offering rippling growth rings rendered with Larry's proprietary, ultra-craggy technique, while the top of the shank presents a discretely lower profile finish to encourage comfortable draping of a digit. The dark, glossy stain gives the pipe a sleek aesthetic despite its texture, a sleekness amplified by the smooth rim and hand-cut cumberland stem. One of Larry's myriad talents is his skill with silver — a testament to his years as a jeweler — and his signature rope-like motif here commends an elegant ring crowning the shank end, putting the final touch on a classy pipe any collector would be lucky to get their hands on.