Ryan Alden: Sandblasted Billiard (Queen of Hearts) Tobacco Pipe

American carver Ryan Alden is something of Renaissance man, with a background in sculpting, leather working, and wood turning, so it seems only natural that he'd try his hand at pipe making. His work takes influence from various schools of design, and his portfolio showcases everything from palm-filling hunks of briar to more snug, Nosewarmer designs. This Billiard is on the more conservative end of Alden's shaping spectrum, but it retains a palpable muscularity to its construction, most notably in the form of a towering, thick-walled bowl at the fore of the composition. Said bowl houses a chamber capacity over two inches deep, which should ensure plenty of leisurely smoking sessions, while the shank-and-stem arrangement makes a straight line from the transition and provides a keen sense of balance to the composition. It's finished in a jet-black sandblast, which accentuates the natural grain orientation of the briar and harmonizes well in color with the ruby hues of the cumberland mouthpiece.