Sandblasted Natural Billiard with Silver (S4) (2717) Tobacco Pipe

Larry Roush is one of the most well-respected artisans in America, his career starting in the 1990s as one of the foremost carvers of the American renaissance of pipe making. He values perfection above all else, demanding it in his shaping and in the grain quality of the briar he utilizes for his pieces, something that he learned from Mike Butera who supported him during his burgeoning years. Perhaps it was Roush himself who put this best when he said, "To short cut or deviate from these standards would not only be cheating the smoker and collector, but cheating ourselves." His dedication to quality and experience in the craft can be seen in this bent Billiard.

As with many of Roush's pipes, this bent Billiard is a strikingly robust iteration of the classic shape, complete with an impressively thick build throughout that lends it an imposing feel in hand. The transition is wide and more than accepting of draped digits, giving way out back to a slightly lifted, gently tapering shank of appreciable girth, diminishing to meet a band of silver: Roush's impeccable silverwork an area where he's received widespread acclaim. Marking the junction, this silver gives way to a bent, brindled stem of blue and black vulcanite that seamlessly continues the taper of the shank, this pair balancing some of the bowl's visual weight while still ensuring the focus is up front. Here, the bowl sits as a monolithic cylinder of briar that rests atop a firm, pronounced heel, its impressively thick walls surrounding a broad chamber sure to offer leisurely smoking sessions. The entirety of this composition's substantial heft is compressed into a package under five and a half inches long, and its flattened underside allows it to sit easily on a flat surface. This piece is dressed in one of Roush's signature sandblasts and a warm, vibrant, natural finish, revealing a wealth of rippling growth rings cascading down the walls of the bowl.