Wolfgang Becker: Partially Sandblasted Wasp with Boxwood (Double Wolf Paw) Tobacco Pipe

The Double Wolf Paw designation is German artisan Wolfgang Becker's second highest grade, and it's found here on the carver's signature Wasp shape. The Wasp is a design that Backer has returned to again and again since he first fashioned it in the late-1980s. Yet each rendition possesses its own distinctive character, its own unique flourish or subtly altered shaping cue, so the shape seems as fresh and original as when Becker first fashioned it. No matter the variation, all renditions of the shape are defined by a pinched transition that demarcates the rotund, forward-canted bowl from the flaring shank, reminiscent of its namesake's outline.

While the fore of the bowl is subtly raised, the aft side slopes gently down into the aforementioned transition, lending the bowl a forward-ebbing momentum and a certain asymmetrical quality in profile. The bulbous heel extends a touch past the transition and provides the bowl with an extra bit of heft, especially in hand. The shank broadens swiftly as it exits the transition, its widening corresponding directly to its upward trajectory away from the bowl. A saddle stem of jet-black vulcanite tops off the design, angled by the lifted shank for a comfortable smoking posture. It's miraculous the level of detail Becker has instilled into a piece of this length, which is a touch under five inches end to end, but every design choice comes through clearly and enhances the pipe as a whole. The bowl wears a handsome, dark sandblast that coaxes out some rippling growth rings on all sides of the bowl, while a dark-chestnut smooth finish dresses the shank and accentuates the flame grain found there. An accent of boxwood at the shank end lightens the overall composition, adding a dose of vibrancy to the rest of the stummel's shadowy complexion.