Wolfgang Becker: Partially Sandblasted Wasp (Signature) (04.21) Tobacco Pipe

Wolfgang Becker's highest grade designation and signature shape combine in this superlative piece from the German artisan. First crafted in the late 1980s, the Wasp design is one of Wolfgang's signature forms, and despite having crafted renditions of it for over three decades, he employs each version with its own individuality while still retaining the shape's defining characteristics: a plumply rounded bowl, raised transition, and flaring shank that all combine to evoke the look of the pipe's namesake. Across renditions, Wolfgang varies each interpretation's size, finish, or proportions — adding asymmetry or altering the shank's postures — and this particular, Signature-grade example dramatically showcases all of the elements.

Overall, this is an incredibly compact and lightweight renditions, and in profile the bowl appears slender and urges forward while the shank flares broadly toward the stem, rivaling the stummel's visual weight. When viewed from above, however, the bowl exhibits a broad, oblong nature that conforms well to wrapped fingers and also reveals the asymmetry with which Wolfgang has shaped the piece. Instead of perpendicular to the shank, the bowl's horizontal axis is subtly tilted, positioning the left flank slightly more forward than the right. To balance this asymmetry, then, Wolfgang has oriented the rim more rightward, its inward chamfer broader on that side than on the left. Furthermore, the pipe's finish reflects the asymmetrical, contrasting shaping, with the left side smooth and walnut-stained to highlight a forward-urging band of vertical grain and more horizontally poised striations along the shank that follow that aspect's shaping and with the right side dressed in a dark sandblast that informs the aesthetics' dual nature.

In profile, this Wasp displays a strong dynamism, the bowl's forward cant emphasized by the shank's curl and the stem's subtle bend, and the shank face's plateau creates a comet-like tail to support that aforementioned visual momentum. Amid that plateau, a brass ring encircles the mortise adding stability and flash against the plateau's dark hue yet having been intricately crafted to match the texture. Lastly, the stem's domed base is lightly raised above the shank face before tapering into a push-style tenon, creating an accenting dose of negative space that adds detail and intricacy to the profile. A stunning representation of Wolfgang's work, this is a seminal piece from the German carver, conveyed by his highest, Signature grade.