Mike Sebastian Bay: Partially Rusticated Tomato Tobacco Pipe

Mike Sebastian Bay's pipe-making career began when he contacted Tom Eltang for help in restoring his father's old pipes. The experience led to Bay apprenticing under Eltang, learning the details and artistry of the craft, and now Mike fashions handmade pipes under his own name. This Tomato wonderfully represents the Danish artisan's typical style of compact, lightweight designs, as well as his use of Eltang's signature rustication — a technique he passed on to the younger carver after his apprenticeship. In this piece, though, Mike hasn't applied the rustication across the entire stummel, instead leaving much of squat bowl smooth. The rustication covers the shank, and along the underside, it curls into a point at the heel, reminiscent of a sharp fang and adding unique character to the composition. With a low-set waistline, the bowl fits substantially in hand, with the upward taper conforming well to wrapped fingers, and the auburn contrast stain of the smooth portion reveals beautiful flame grain while pinpricks of birdseye fill the space around the heel's rusticated fang. Topped with a flared portion of cumberland at the shank end, it's fitted to a matching, cumberland stem, cohering the color palette and integrating the stem into the overall design for a pleasantly consistent composition.