Hiroyuki Tokutomi: Sandblasted Acorn with Bamboo Tobacco Pipe

Though we've seen forms of similarly playful squatness, and likewise of a comparatively organic disposition from Hiroyuki Tokutomi, this fellow is especially evocative, to my eye. More specifically, it calls to mind the look of Sixten's famed Potato Sack shape, if that form had produced offspring with an especially well-traveled Castello "55." Indeed, the form is guided rather overtly by its jutting heel, forming the initiation point for a graceful, almost aquiline sense of curve through the entirety of the shape. Two knuckles of honey-blonde bamboo form a shank extension, guiding the eye to the gently downturned saddle stem, while the elongated transition forms the implication of a third knuckle, making for a consistent, even sense of rhythm throughout. A charming, marvelously handled piece from Tokutomi.