Pete Prevost: Sandblasted Tomato with Bakelite Tobacco Pipe

There are few learning opportunities better than being taught by two of the country's leading masters of a craft, and that is precisely what makes Pete Prevost's delve into the pipe world so special. After carving his first pipe from a kit over the course of two days, Prevost was afforded the chance to study under both Jody Davis and Todd Johnson, rapidly accelerating the honing of his abilities to the degree that he gave up his life as a touring musician to focus on pipe making full time in 2012. Soon after that, he was approached by Johnson with a proposition: establish a workshop that produced serialized pipes with artisan shaping and engineering, all at a reasonable price. Thus, BriarWorks came to be. Johnson has since left the workshop and it is now headed by Pete, finding time to still carve his handmade pieces such as this handsome Tomato.

Not only is this a charmingly plump and chubby piece, but it is extremely compact, coming in at well under four and a half inches long and placing it squarely in Nosewarmer territory. There's a great deal of substance packed into this small package, however, and Pete has leveraged every bit of his pipe making ability to craft a profile that is replete with as many curves as possible in such a pocketable footprint. The shank is quite trim, ebbing out of a wide transition and tapering into the stem base which continues these lines, rounding them out significantly before firming up just a touch to form the start of the saddle-oriented bit. Said stem is a handsome horn-hued Bakelite that's demurely arced from the shank, though this works well with the short, stout nature of the stummel to promote an easy clenching posture. In addition, the nearly domed build of the stem base contributes to a rather fluid undercurve whose lines are only slightly interrupted by its dip into the bit. The bowl is low-slung and broad at the base, flaring out to a low-set waist before taking on a curved taper to the rim, its walls providing plenty of soft contours for the fingers to appreciate. Dressing the stummel is a warm tanblast that reveals a sunburst growth ring array on the left flank, the ripples issuing out from here traveling toward the other flank where we are greeted by a vast swath of birdseye.