Scottie Piersel: Sandblasted Pencil Shank Dublin Tobacco Pipe

No matter the shape or design, Scottie Piersel's pipes are dynamic, eye-catching and superior in form and functionality. The American artisan traces her successful career back to a single act of love: The mother of three purchased a pipe-making kit in order to make a gift for her husband, and her passion was thus ignited. Self-taught to a degree, the Kansas City resident also worked with pipe makers George Dibos and Quinton Wells along the way. Her carving mission is to craft pipes with clean, minimalist lines and comfortable, hand-cut stems.

This straight Dublin features a rather stout bowl that expands in breadth ever-so-slightly from its flattened base to its flaring, plateau-laden rim. The poised bowl seems to be plucked from the ether and affixed to what has become a signature design for the talented artisan: Her startlingly slender, pencil-thin shank that appears perilously delicate. It isn't, of course; it's lined with a stainless-steel tube, lending it strength and durability, while remaining lightweight. Scottie's compositions that feature such shanks draw as much attention to them as to the bowl, which is a unique cue considering the dramatically contrasting proportions between bowl and shank.

This Dublin is a fine Sitter, and it's dressed in one of her walnut-hued contrast sandblasts, which adds a lively texture to the briar. Said sandblast unveils tight growth rings that are intersected by strands of feathery grain, offering a richly detailed tableau for the fingers and eyes to appreciate. A trim white accent ties the composition together, bridging the reserved hues of the stummel to the vulcanite stem's blue and tan tones.