Scottie Piersel: Relief Contrast Pencil Shank Tomato Tobacco Pipe

Scottie Piersel strives for perfection in every one of her pieces, the American artisan devoting ample time to achieving clean lines and engineering that's as flawless as possible. While she expects that the practical elements of her work must be superlative, she also requires the same of these pipes' aesthetics, and her personal aesthetic is something that she's honed consistently since she made her first pipe. Favoring classic English shapes, Piersel is adept at rendering supple curves and easy fluidity, though her most recognizable shapes are those that include her signature pencil-shanks, such as this Tomato.

The bowl of this piece immediately leaps out at the eyes, and that's no surprise, as the shank here is remarkably thin and rather trim, even for a Piersel piece, placing nearly all of the visual weight on the bowl. This thinness should not be mistaken for weakness, as it, like all of her pencil-shanked pieces, has been reinforced with a rigid stainless steel tube. This not only keeps things sturdy and light, but it acts as the colorful vulcanite stem's reverse tenon.

The aforementioned bowl is rotund and supple in its roundness, making for a fit in hand that's quite comfortable, and the gentle forward cant that it takes on coming out of the shank keeps things looking quite dynamic. The rim here is finished smooth, save for a kiss of plateau along the right aft side, and slopes into the chamber for a tobacco-loading experience that's as easy as possible. Dressing this piece is Piersel's Relief Contrast finish, achieved by first sandblasting and staining the stummel, then sanding down the peaks of the sandblast by hand to create a smoother texture while retaining its grain-defining pattern. After this, it is stained a lighter color, resulting in a softer feel in hand and a stunning feast for the eyes as the striated white band of Ivorite at the junction provides further contrast.