Brad Pohlmann: Partially Sandblasted Bent Dublin with Bakelite Tobacco Pipe

Although I can't say we see it frequently, this is a Brad Pohlmann shape with some familiarity: a Dublin of curling gesture combined with pronounced flare to both shank and bowl taper. Compared to the few others I've seen before, in this one Brad pushed things leaner, and taller, and complemented that by also increasing the vertical "kick" of the shank-end. Speaking of complementing one aspect with another, for this slimmer rendition he also switched things up finish-wise, this being the first briar of this design-type I've seen from Brad with a black sandblast — and black is, of course, slimming. That sandblast is undoubtedly fine in detail, bringing out clear ring grain. From there Brad then took an interesting turn in contrasting the black finish in two different directions, first with the richer and warmer look of the contrast-stained rim and shank-end, and then secondly with a paler, cooler tone in the almost silvery grey, white-swirled bakelite stem.

- Eric N. Squires