Ryan Alden: Sandblasted Dublin Stack (King) Tobacco Pipe

Texas-based artisan Ryan Alden is no stranger to classic Anglo-French design, and this is appropriate, given the English provenance of his name, which crossed the Atlantic ocean on the Mayflower in 1620. Much of his portfolio is made up of timeless profiles and traditional silhouettes, though he is no stranger to more contemporary shapes either, feeling equally at home crafting them as well. The Stack is a rare shape from Alden, though one he crafts with an effortless deftness, something evidenced by this striking Dublin-bowled rendition of the profile: one that's as compact as it is imposing.

It's almost impossible not to be immediately stricken by the presence of the bowl here, a towering monolith of briar that fills out the entire hand when held, suffused with just enough curvature through its walls to keep it comfortable while smoked. This monumental bowl rises to more than three inches tall and sits atop a flattened heel that's slightly rounded at the fore, its walls expanding gradually to an expansive domed rim that's sloped into the cavernous depths of the chamber. Given the presence of the bowl, the relative smallness of this heel is impressive in its ability to stably support the entire composition on a flat surface. A wide transition gives more than enough room to drape a digit here and gives way to a short, round, tapering shank that meets a slim and sleek saddle stem carved from cumberland: the aft side combination's more streamlined silhouette granting the bowl nearly all of the visual weight. A crisp sandblast and rich, earthy stain dress the stummel here, complemented well by the cumberland stem and showcasing a rippling array of growth rings which cascade down the flanks of the bowl.