Smooth Hiroyuki Tokutomi Tribute Chanterelle Cavalier with Boxwood (with Box) Tobacco Pipe

Formerly known as the American Pipe Making Exposition, our annual Global Pipe Making Exposition features contributions from some of the world's foremost artisans, all united around a central theme. One of the most exciting events of the year for carvers, smokers, and enthusiasts of briar alike, the Global Exposition acts not only as a showcase for the immense talent of these artisans but a focus for the boundless creativity that these masters of the art possess. For 2025, the theme of our Expo is "In Memoriam," celebrating the life and works of artisans who have passed on, yet whose impact on the craft and those around them is utterly undeniable.

Much of Micah Redmond's portfolio focuses on pipes of a compact nature. He's best known for his myriad Tomato renditions, merging squat bowls and stout proportions with an supple fluidity and a dynamism that belies their plump demeanor. Even his classic shapes comprise an organic charm through their soft lines and rounded edges. Rare within Redmond's œuvre are bold, eccentric Freehands, yet that's a matter of preference, not of ability. For 2025's Global Pipe-Making Exposition, the American carver has honored the late Hiroyuki Tokutomi while simultaneously flexing his craftsmanship muscles, rendering one of Tokutomi's most complex and definitive designs: the Chanterelle Cavalier.

This signature Tokutomi shape is defined by a dramatically arching form that grows parabolically from a broad foot, curling through the transition into the stem. Out of that arching briar, the bowl evokes its namesake mushroom seeming to grow forth with a broad, splayed rim adorned in asymmetry and organicism. Throughout Tokutomi's life, the Japanese master played with his Chanterelle Cavalier renditions, altering the degree of curvature as well as the specific bowl shape — neither exactly the same as previous iterations, just like the fungus by which its inspired.

Redmond's version here is a gorgeous rendition of the shape, and the briar grain beautifully follows the design's characteristic features: Cross grain defines the curling transition flanking panels to leave birdseye populating the top and underside, while the bowl delights with tendrils of flame grain and a smattering of natural briar plateau along one side. Most pleasing about Redmond's piece is the artisan's approach to line work. While the form curves consistently to one side, it also gradually tapers toward the stem, and Redmond balances these two aspects perfectly. Moreover, though the stem reveals a half-saddle, the implied continuation of the stem's bottom line expertly continues the form's overall taper, the half-saddle adding an accenting touch through the negative space it creates. Such deft handling of the curling and tapering line work allows the flourishing lines of the bowl to take deserved center stage within the combination as the bowl erupts outward, with a crisp panel informing the outer edge.

It's all dressed in a stunning contrast stain to highlight the briar's natural beauty and to also align with the composition's tri-toned motif: the light hues of the stain complementing the dramatic boxwood accents adorning the base and shank end, capped by ebonite at end of the base and for the stem. It's a flawless work of art from Redmond, and he's presented it accordingly in a display case that's etched with the Japanese Kanji for "Chanterelle."