Rinaldo: Sahara Volcano with Silver (1) (YYY) Tobacco Pipe

To date, this is only the second Sahara Volcano we have ever seen from the Rinaldo workshop, but it is also the 5th iteration of this shape from the Italian brothers, making this profile quite rare. Out of all the imaginings of the Volcano from Rinaldo, this one is my favorite, having a singular kind of shape, with the bowl looking to be a fusion of its namesake and the Cauldron, featuring a taper toward the middle, before flaring outward dramatically. This bowl sits on an underside that sweeps upward to the shank, tapering as it does, capped with a band of silver and lifting the stem into the air before gently downturning. The stem itself is quite interesting, a half saddle affair that features ridges on the flanks which curve and sweep downward to the base, adding a slight bit of structure to a fluid piece. The Sahara sandblast on this pipe is also quite nice, featuring concentric ring grain that undulates up the bowl, radiating from the base which, thanks to its own continuous ridgeline, is able to showcase a lovely sandblasted sea of birdseye.