Xu Hai: Smooth Long Shank Blowfish (0117) Tobacco Pipe

Though "Long Shank Blowfish" does accurately describe this Xu Hai design, the first time I saw this shape a different name came to my mind: Oarfish, after the rarely-seen species whose long, ribbon-like form may have inspired many an old tale of sea-serpents. Call it by either name, there's no denying that this is a design that makes for one unusual pipe. Yet in its own unusual way, it is also a very simple one.

Simplicity, in a sense of purity, is something Xu Hai has spoken of pursuing, evidently not having an interest in the busyness and distractions of "fancy" aesthetics. And as dramatic as this shape may be, with its great length and height of shank, and very marked asymmetry of transition and bowl, there's still something just surprisingly low-profile about it. The movement of the shank, for example, is complex in that it both sways in a swimming motion from side-to-side (as viewed from above or below) and just-so-slightly twists with torsion at the same time, yet the form of it remains simple, roughly rectangular, forgoing pronounced ridges, channels, or other such embellishments in favor of four planes, and four edges. That four-edged, four-planed form then doubles as a means to better join the whole shape together as a composition, the upper and lower planes continuing right through the bowl, terminating only at the edge of the rim.

- Eric N. Squires