Hiroyuki Tokutomi: Sandblasted Squat Apple (BN) Tobacco Pipe

Referred to at differing times as a 'squat Apple' and 'squat Tomato', but more properly a 'Fish' this is one of the few Tokutomi forms that seem to disappear and reappear on a cyclical basis of such irregularity, that I can't even come close to creating a mental algorithm that will predict the next reemergence. Deceptively minimalist, with just a few, subtle manipulations, Toku-san can move the anima of this form from the archeological, to either flora or fauna, to a composition that speaks of a far flung future with the eloquence of an Isaac Asimov. To my mind, with a fine symmetry of bowl and clean backward rake of line, this endearing 'mighty mite' articulates the latter, a sense that is further reinforced with a splendid feline pupil mount that is seemingly caught in mid-revolution around the horizontal axis of the composition. Compact (just 3.66 inches!), made from the famous Bo Nordh legacy briar, this pipe seems to be going places, and darned if my imagination doesn't want to hitch a ride.