Pete Prevost: Smooth Fig Tobacco Pipe

When Pete Prevost first started making pipes, he was afforded the opportunity to study under Jody Davis and Todd Johnson, two of North America's premier carvers. Prevost quickly honed his skills and eventually quit his career as a touring musician to focus on pipe making full-time. He now heads the BriarWorks workshop but still produces handmade pipes under his own name, as evidenced by this Fig — inspired by one of fellow American carver Adam Davidson's signature shapes.

The Fig shape is defined by its Acorn-like bowl, which consists of a steady upward flare, a rounded, bulbous rim, and a flat, spur-like heel. The shape's signature bowl is replicated here, but the form's protruding heel is orientated more toward the bowl's aft, close to the transition. This placement lends the rest of the bowl, and its accompanying flare, a forward-ebbing posture, which, alongside the sweeping shank-and-stem arrangement, lends the composition a dynamic look in profile. Although rather compact, measuring less than five inches long, this piece boasts a muscular in-hand presence and broad canvas of briar, which showcases plenty of gorgeous grain, all underneath a warm, contrast-stained smooth finish.