Werner Mummert: Partially Sandblasted Strawberry Wood Eskimo with Elk Antler Tobacco Pipe

"Well." That was my first though upon opening the tray containing the Werner Mummert pipes going up on the site today, and as you may have guessed this was the pipe that inspired that internal reaction to the unexpected. It's no secret that Werner is a maker of some pretty eccentric designs, but this, even by his standards, is out there. It's a sort of ultra-Eskimo really, taking the most unusual aspects of one of Tom Eltang's odder shapes, and then running very, very far with them. As much as the arguably a little batty emphasis on width might grab the attention first, however, Mummert's design is not a one-trick pony. Through some neat plays of curving planes and tapering edges, he somehow managed to make a shape that is, frankly, ludicrously broad still active and even, from some angles, light in style.

- Eric N. Squires