Todd Johnson: Smooth Samurai Volcano with Mammoth (Phalanx) Tobacco Pipe

Few artisans have had a greater impact on the pipe making world than Todd Johnson. He was among the first American artisans to seek out the Danes and learn their method of pipe making, and he's since passed that knowledge on to many younger carvers throughout his career. That said, while Johnson has championed the engineering and techniques of Danish artisan pipe making, he's developed a style all his own — one that often results in gorgeous, organic forms that seem more to have grown from nature rather than having been shaped on a sanding disc. While some makers conform the briar to a predetermined form, Johnson considers himself a slave to the briar's natural whimsy, seeking to reveal what shape it wishes to be.

A signature shape from Todd Johnson, the Samurai Volcano is a specific take on the iconic design. It's still marked by a ridgeline separating heel from tapered bowl, but Johnson's particular rendition incorporates a flicking spur just below the transition, interrupting the shank's implied line into the bowl's underside. It creates a wave-like aesthetic that calls to mind many a theme in Japanese art and, especially, samurai armor of old. Moreover, this particular iteration urges dramatically forward: The posture is clearly the result of following the briar's vertical grain, which further informs the shank's curvature. A domed stem base terminates the lines of the shank and harmonizes the mouthpiece with the rest of the composition; such stem shaping is an oft-seen aspect of American artisan pipe making, and Johnson was among the pioneers of this domed stem aspect. A ring of mammoth separates stem from shank, breaking the lines and adding a touch of color alongside the black vulcanite and light, auburn stain.