Scottie Piersel: Relief Contrast Magnum Pencil Shank Apple Tobacco Pipe

Scottie Piersel has spent a great deal of time developing her personal aesthetic, though it is one which now thoroughly suffuses her entire body of work, mainly comprising a combination of heartily built English classics and dramatically inclined pencil shank pipes. This particular straight Apple is clearly in the latter camp, and boasts one of the longest shank and stem combinations in her portfolio, measuring in at over twelve and a half inches. This highly exaggerated length has easily earned it a Magnum designation, denoting Piersel's largest pipes, and its straight expanse outward ensures that it's unmissable no matter what collection it's a part of.

As a pencil-shanked piece, the shank and stem here are extremely svelte, and their pairing to a plump, full-bodied Apple bowl may give pause to some people, though Piersel has long since accounted for this difference in proportions in these kinds of pipes. The shank is fitted with a hollow stainless steel tube that offers lightweight reinforcement throughout its length without impacting the performance of the pipe itself, allowing the willowy stretch of briar and multicolored vulcanite to support the hearty bowl rather easily. Despite the thinness of the duo, this combination still maintains a good hold on the visual weight due to their sheer length, but the low-set transition and the bowl's own slight forward cant allow the eye's attention to easily migrate to the fore. Here we can appreciate the bowl's low waist and gentle arc to the inward-sloping rim as the walls grow upward, the fore wall kissed by craggy plateau near the top. The easy curves of the bowl fit the contours of the hand very well, and the wide transition allows for easy thumb draping, the wealth of briar up front a lovely canvas for Piersel's Relief Contrast finish. This special dressing is achieved by first sandblasting and staining a stummel, then sanding down the peaks of the sandblast by hand to create a smoother texture while retaining its undulating pattern, then staining that a lighter color, resulting in a softer feel in hand and a stunning feast for the eyes.