Todd Johnson: Smooth Cantilevered Dublin Sitter (Phalanx-Q) Tobacco Pipe

While his Danish influences can readily be seen throughout his larger body of work, Todd Johnson has certainly developed his own unique style in the 17+ years he's been making pipes. In fact, it's Johnson's name that first comes to mind when you think of the American Industrial aesthetic — a relatively new, and currently still developing aesthetic found in the work of pipemakers from across the States, defined by its beautiful balance of Danish or classic English sensibilities and firm, more architectural lines.

This Cantilevered Dublin Sitter is a fine example of just that, physically counterbalancing a very organic, Japanese Dublin bowl (Japanese pipemaking having been influenced by Danish pipemaking) with a firm, architectural shank and stem configuration. As the title suggests, that stout, paneled, vertical shank acts as a cantilever to the forward-canted bowl — allowing Todd to really explore its drooping, almost pouring-over aesthetic while still keeping the overall composition very stable as a sitter design. Perhaps even more impressive, he's packed all those design elements into a form that measures just over four and a half inches from the fore of the rim to the button of the stem — with an overall weight of under 45 grams. And he's done it all with a clear eye for grain orientation. Suffice to say, this is one beautiful, complex, and still quite functional design.

- Andrew Wike