Scottie Piersel: Relief Contrast Pencil Shank Nosewarmer Billiard with Ivorite Tobacco Pipe

American artisan Scottie Piersel brings a rare blend of engineering precision, sculptural intuition, and architectural balance to her pipe making — qualities that define her as a distinctive voice in artisan pipemaking. While her portfolio includes a range of traditional shapes, she is best known for her signature pencil-thin shanks and stems, which lend her designs a refined, elongated elegance and exceptional comfort.

This particular piece is a notable departure from Scottie Piersel's traditional designs: a compact Nosewarmer Billiard, an uncommon form in her portfolio. Here, she reinterprets her characteristic slender shank in a shortened format, maintaining sleek proportions while compressing the overall length for a uniquely stout and balanced profile. The bowl takes center stage — the expanse of briar serving as a perfect canvas for Piersel's Relief Contrast finish. A smoothly chamfered rim adds a refined touch, with patches of plateau peeking through and offering a hint of organic texture that enhances the bowl's natural elegance. Scottie's Relief Contrast finish is achieved through a meticulous, multi-step process. The stummel is first sandblasted and stained, then the raised surfaces are gently sanded down by hand to create a softer texture while preserving the definition of the grain. A lighter second stain is applied, heightening the contrast and revealing a richly layered surface that is both tactile and visually impressive. On this particular Billiard, the finish highlights tight growth rings wrapping the bowl's flanks, while a swirling sea of birdseye graces the underside and rim. Balancing this visual weight, the stem introduces a lively burst of color: swirled hues of grey and white vulcanite, capped with a pale ivorite accent that subtly defines the junction. These design cues work together to create a striking composition — compact, elegant, and unmistakably Scottie.