Smooth Dublin with Bamboo (2101) Tobacco Pipe

The very first pipe Li Zhesong produced in 2021, this Dublin wonderfully captures the Chinese carver's fondness for classic shapes. Zhesong crafts less than 100 pipes each year, preferring to produce a small number of high-quality pieces with meticulous care. Li's Dublin renditions are often of the bent variety or are sharply angled, making this straight piece a rare, yet welcome sight. The bowl immediately grabbed my attention when examining this pipe, and considering the stunning grain Zhesong coaxed from this briar block, I can't fault him for placing emphasis on the bowl. Remarkably tight tendrils of flame grain rise from the heel and engulf the bowl's flanks, rising in concert with the bowl's natural flare before meeting the dark, rugged, dimpled plateau oriented along the broad rim. For a subtle yet skillful accenting touch, the inner rim has been chamfered and polished smooth. The briar shank on this piece is incredibly brief, with three knuckles of bamboo being the most significant contributor to the piece's overall length. The bumpy nodes around each knuckle add visual and physical texture to the composition, while the base of the saddle stem seamlessly continues the rhythmic spacing of the knuckles. It's an excellent and beautifully cohesive piece from Zhesong that has the potential to make other pipes in your collection jealous.