Ryan Alden: Sandblasted Cutty (Jack of Diamonds) Tobacco Pipe

A shape with its roots in the clay pipes of old, Ryan Alden has taken a more muscular approach to the Cutty in this piece. Towering and firm of bowl, with a supple, fluid bend through its transition, as well as a jaunty lift to its shank and stem, this is a piece that might be mistaken for a bent Billiard or Dublin, were it not for the angled spur just beneath the transition. Pair it to a cumberland mouthpiece, a red-hued stain, and a crisp sandblast with plenty of stacked ring grain, and the entire piece coalesces into a coherent whole — and one that won't be out of place in a collection of Freehands in easy, traditional style.