Sabina Santos: Smooth Tadpole Calabash with Black and White Ebony (G) Tobacco Pipe

The Tadpole is a Joao Reis design, though this take on it is particularly unique. Featuring a winding, tapering stretch of briar that surrounds the shank, it's a tricky shape to get right, and one which requires a striking amount of skill. The shape was given to Sabina Santos as a challenge when she worked with Reis — something she could aim not only to achieve, but to make her own.

The result is stunning: a broad Calabash bowl with black and white ebony for cap and shank, the heel of the bowl sweeping into a winding, serpentine pattern meant to evoke the appearance of a tadpole's tail. Each detail has been sought out, considered, and carefully engineered to make sure the pipe works, a testament to her efficient and diligent eye, as well as to the skills she learned during her mentorship under Reis. With lower bowl and "tail" finished in a dark, subdued contrast, the lighter hues of the ebony are allowed to catch the eye, putting the unusual material on broad display. It's even noticeable from the underside of the cap, which has been finished in the same stain as the stummel, a detail often overlooked by pipemakers and smokers alike. Similarly, the condensation chamber has been lined with natural cork, giving as much attention to the interior of the piece as the exterior — and helping to make this piece, with its exacting efforts, be worthy of her highest grade: the "G," in honor of her son.