Smooth Lars Ivarsson and Hiroyuki Tokutomi Tribute Blowfish with Boxwood and Ebonite (Phalanx) (Q) Tobacco Pipe

Formerly known as the American Pipe Making Exposition, our annual Global Pipe Making Exposition features contributions from some of the world's foremost artisans, all united around a central theme. One of the most exciting events of the year for carvers, smokers, and enthusiasts of briar alike, the Global Exposition acts not only as a showcase for the immense talent of these artisans but a focus for the boundless creativity that these masters of the art possess. For 2025, the theme of our Expo is "In Memoriam," celebrating the life and works of artisans who have passed on, yet whose impact on the craft and those around them is utterly undeniable.

Whenever Todd Johnson has participated in our Pipe-Making Exposition, he's delivered a singular composition that stretches the boundary of what's considered possible in pipe making, flexing both his creative and craftsmanship expertise. He was among the first American artisans to adopt the artistic and engineering practices of Danish masters and has sense passed that knowledge on to a new generation of pipe makers. For 2025's Exposition, he's presented this Blowfish, honoring two late masters in a single pipe: Lars Ivarsson and Hiroyuki Tokutomi.

To understand Johnson's rendition here, one must first understand the history and evolution of the Blowfish design. As it exists in today's modern pipe-making milieu, the Blowfish, or Fugu, prioritizes cross grain and birdseye with a central panel bifurcating the bowl, often asymmetrically, to featuring swathes of birdseye along the flanks. Furthermore, the ridgelines informing said panel often flick outward at the transition for a fin-like aspect. It's a shape steeped in organic charm and fluid dynamism, and it's thanks to the creative genius of Tokutomi that the shape exists today. His interpretation, though, is based on an older Danish design often called a Barrel or, more simply, a Crosscut.

Like the Blowfish, the Barrel or Crosscut, was defined by a central panel of cross grain and flanks of birdseye; however, Danish artisans often prioritized symmetry and maintained a minimalist aesthetic, free of flourishing ridgelines. Tokutomi expanded on this core design to create today's Blowfish rendition. In this piece, Johnson reimagines that history, imagining that Tokutomi's Blowfish existed first and that Danish masters — specifically Lars Ivarsson in this case — reimagined the design through their functionalist lens. To that end, Johnson's piece strips the iconic Blowfish of any seemingly unnecessary aspects, distilling it down to its most basic form and refining Tokutomi's cross-grain Blowfish.

The pipe maintains a central panel through the shank and over the rim, introducing a touch of asymmetry as it favors the left side, but the ridgelines remain simple and austere, staying consistent in their curving trajectory. As such, the bowl's left side features birdseye framed in a perfect circle not unlike those historic Barrel designs. The right side, however, reveals a more bulbous aspect kissed by natural briar plateau, its overall outline founded on the ridgeline's crisp undercurve in profile. Such fluid curves and organic softness evoke Ivarsson's signature shaping style, and the pipe changes personalities depending on the viewer's vantage point: From the right side, the piece rests firmly in Ivarsson's design language, while from the left side hints of Tokutomi's influence shine through the panel and ridgelines — though kept demure as if interpreted by Ivarsson. Overall, stunning grain defines this piece and clearly reveals Johnson's shaping ability and desire to keep the shape as true to the briar as possible, and it's commended accordingly, having received his highest grade of Phalanx Q.