Scottie Piersel: Sandblasted Pencil Shank Billiard with Ivorite Tobacco Pipe

At almost eight inches long and with what seems to be an impossibly slender shank, this Billiard from Scottie Piersel is a very classic presentation modified with Scottie's signature shaping cues. Most prominent of those cues is the pencil shank, which is in fact less in diameter than an actual generic pencil. With its low transition to the bowl and its impossibly small diameter, it presents an illusion of fragility, but it is just as tough as more robust interpretations thanks to the stainless steel sleeve running through its entire length. That sleeve extends from the end of the shank, which offers a creamy ivorite accent, and provides a reverse tenon for the tapered mouthpiece, which is presented in one of Scottie's carefully selected vulcanite colors for a modern contrast to the stummel's earthy hue. The rim is smooth and lighter in tone than the bowl for additional contrast, and is inclined toward the tobacco chamber for easy filling. A low-profile sandblast textures the exterior for firm handling capabilities and to highlight the cross-grain orientation of the briar. This pipe, like all of Scottie's pencil-shanked compositions, offers a sense of optical illusion: it doesn't seem possible, yet here it is in its near-magical proportions.