Scottie Piersel: Sandblasted Pencil Shank Rhodesian with Ivorite Tobacco Pipe

The first pipe Scottie Piersel ever carved was for her husband, purchasing a pipe kit from Mark Tinsky with the goal of gifting him the finished product for Father's Day. Of course, this sparked an intense passion, leading to her voraciously studying the craft and accumulating the requisite tools and supplies, making pipe after pipe as she went. Throughout her journey, she refined both her methods and her style, resulting in a design outlook that often features thin, lengthy shank-and-stem combinations paired to large bowls. Much of Piersel's portfolio comprises these svelte pieces, and this Rhodesian is certainly one of them, though this bowl strikes me as being particularly large, especially with respect to the shank and stem it is paired to.

This bowl is quite hearty, nearly two inches tall and over two inches in diameter, holding a capacious chamber within its thick, insulating walls. The heel here is firm and pronounced, and the base that it rises out of is wide, allowing for the pipe to sit, with the walls of the bowl flaring as they rise out of this base, reaching its widest point at the first of two beadlines marking the taper to the rim. Said rim is finished smooth and slopes inward to the chamber, allowing for easier loading of tobacco, and the entire bowl cants gently forward, giving it an even more unique stature. The transition is subtly cheeked and leads to the pencil-thin shank and stem, with the former possessed of a subtle taper as it reaches toward the Ivorite-fitted junction. Additionally, this shank is reinforced with stainless steel tubing which runs from end to end, and serves to mount the stem as well, adding a good deal of strength that ensures this petite combination can support the weight of the bowl. Dressing this pipe is a warm chestnut stain and a soft, shallow sandblast that reveals gentle undulations of growth rings throughout the bowl, with the vivid, multicolored stem, smooth, lightly stained rim, and Ivorite band providing a wealth of contrast.