Luiz Lavos: Smooth Volcano Tobacco Pipe

Brazilian carver Luiz Lavos draws on both a childhood spent in his grandfather's woodworking shop and his own career in graphic arts to create artisanal smokers. This Volcano is a trim piece, one of the smallest of the shape I have seen, offering a wealth of design acumen in a Nosewarmer package.

The bowl rises cleanly from an encircling ridgeline at the base, displaying a slightly concave surface as it races toward a chamfered rim that represents the Volcano's mouth. Luiz has worked wonders with the briar here, giving us a genuine straight grain Volcano, something which I am not certain I have ever even seen before, the tight, uniform striations looking positively magnificent all about the bowl. The shaping is the real hero of this story, however, as the heel's ridgeline runs smoothly into and up the lower margins of the shank, tapering in width and flaring slightly in height; when seen from above, it appears another volcano peak thrusts to the aft.

The shank end kicks upward as the shank's top curves to subtly mirror the curvature of the bowl, while the sleek offset saddle stem of hand-shaped vulcanite adds its own bespoke touch. It all looks quite stunning, dressed as it is in a rich auburn stain and smooth finish, timeless beauty combined with extremely well-executed modern shaping.