Hiroyuki Tokutomi: Partially Sandblasted Dolphin with Bamboo and Mastondon Ivory (One Snail) (BN) Tobacco Pipe

When it comes to the way Tokutomi composes a pipe, so much of what's extraordinary about his work has to do with the smallest of details. He has a keen eye for minutia and as much is evident here having thoroughly fondled his latest masterpiece, this One Snail graded sandblasted Dolphin of Bo Nordh briar, for an inappropriately long time. Here, what was already an immaculately beautiful, asymmetrical Elephant's Foot has been transformed into what Tokutomi calls a Dolphin, by having shaped from the foot a lithe, leaping stand. As usual, Toku's attentiveness to to detail speaks for itself; from the careful use of ivory, to the delicately cut vulcanite stem, to the ribbon of smooth briar that makes up the pipes' side panels, everything here is in order and deliberate; even the bamboo's left-sided beauty mark is no accident.

I could go on and on. Like any pipe by Tokutomi, you really just have to hold and study the thing to appreciate what's happening. But then that's true with any good piece of art now isn't it?

-- Ted Swearingen