Mark Tinsky: Cabernet Tomato with Silver (5) (Two Star) (Glenn Tinsky) Tobacco Pipe

The first words that come to my mind when I lay eyes on this Tomato from American carver Glenn Tinsky, the son of Mark Tinsky, are plump, squat, and muscular, with much of this owed to the bowl. Said bowl is a good bit more girthy than it is tall, filling out the palm very nicely and presenting with a profile that's unmissable, its girth resting atop a rounded heel before the briar flares into an extremely pronounced, mid-set waistline. From there it takes on an arcing taper to the rim, which slopes inward to the chamber slightly, said taper's travel from the aft informed by a wide transition that leaves plenty of room to drape a thumb. The shank ebbing out of this transition is quite thick, meeting a broad, mount-like fitment of silver at the end which surrounds the mortise and strengthens the walls that hold the tenon. A jet-black tapered stem starts its outward travel here, with the girth of the base quite a bit smaller than that of the face, creating some visual separation that pulls a bit of the visual weight away from the bowl. The warm mahogany stain of the Cabernet series dresses the briar here, revealing some handsome flame grain around the bowl and contrasting the silver nicely.