Sabina Santos: Sandblasted Apple with Mammoth Tobacco Pipe

Sabina Santos hand carves refined shapes that both celebrate schools of design from all over the world and display her own unique style. Most often the celebrated school is the Danish one, and her respect for traditional Danish design can be traced back to her beginnings when she embarked on a pilgrimage to Denmark. There she was instructed by many of the great Danish artisans and, on her second trip, spent more than a week working under the keen eye of Hans "Former" Nielsen, solidifying her shaping style and giving her insight into the drilling and internal engineering of her work. This straight Apple certainly showcases this Danish influence, with balanced proportions and a tight, unified aesthetic that is sure to make it a favored smoker.

The stem here is a trim saddle affair made from an understated pale pink vulcanite, meeting a band of mammoth bone at the junction point that, in striking fashion, displays its own natural pink tones. As a matter of fact, trim is a good word to describe this entire piece, as it measures in at just a touch over four inches in length, lending itself well to pocket carry as well as clenching, given its wonderfully light weight. At the transition we see a lovely cheeking, serving to accentuate the curves of the bowl, with said bowl rising out of a handsomely curvaceous, low-set waistline and tapering to the softly inflated rim, its contours doing well to provide an excellent feel in hand. The underside of the piece allows for stable sitting despite a slight rounding to its form, and from here we can see a bit of a lift to the flanks of the bowl, pushing the aforementioned waist upward a bit. Dressing the briar here is a warm, ruby-tinged sandblast that unveils a stunning array of rippling ring grain wrapping around the bowl, the smooth rim offering some subtle contrast, while its plateau-kissed aft side unifies the look of the stummel, the shank accent and stem complementing the tones of the burl very well.