Hiroyuki Tokutomi: Sandblasted Acorn with Horn Tobacco Pipe

Shane and I both really took to this little Acorn when it first arrived. As a master of his craft, we shouldn't have been surprised that Tokutmoi could turn out such a wonderfully delicate design. and frankly we weren't. But it is one thing to know someone can create such an object, and another to see and handle it personally - sort of like how you hear people talk about the experience of seeing firsthand great and famous canvases in a museum or gallery, versus even the most detailed images or prints of the original.

The long, dark, smooth horn ferrule, particularly, captured my attention; it's rare to see such an accent taken to such slenderness, and I couldn't think of a better way Toku could have possibly complemented this design as a whole.

- Eric N. Squires