Pete Prevost: Sandblasted Pot with Boxwood Stem Tobacco Pipe

Smokingpipes' 7th annual American Pipe Making Exposition for 2021 features the work of 16 well-renowned U.S.-based carvers, with the theme of accent stems a recurring one from 2017. It was the late Danish artisan Sixten Ivarsson who embraced the idea that stems are a crucial element of the pipe's composition, not merely a place upon which to contentedly puff. That notion has gained a lot of traction in the ensuing years, with American artisans among those who often utilize different materials along with lively colors for their stems. Vulcanite, acrylic forms, hardwood, etc. are all well-represented in our Expo presentation this year, including this Pot from Tennessee carver Pete Provost, who's also the director of BriarWorks.

Forgoing his usual personal style of crafting muscular, chubbily apportioned pieces, Pete's Pot entry in the 2021 American Pipe Making Expo is far more trim but maintains his penchant for Nosewarmers. The slightly forward-canting bowl is Billiard-like and displays a subtle taper toward the rim from a proportionally plump base, a design cue often seen in Danish pipe making. The low-set oval shank emphasizes the bowl's height, while it otherwise diminishes toward the boxwood stem. Finely striated, this light-yellow mouthpiece is hand-cut and sleek, the hardwood often used for chess pieces and musical instruments, as well as pipe accents — though rarely as an entire stem. The light coloring of the mouthpiece is contrasted by one of Pete's extra-dark sandblasts that accentuates the pipe's tight stacks of gorgeous growth rings.