Xu Hai: Smooth Asymmetric Bent Apple with Silver (Panda) Tobacco Pipe

A master calligrapher, Xu Hai understands the difference a small detail can make, and that precise attention to detail is always on display in his pipe making. A subtle shift of weight across one axis can create an entirely new piece, particularly when considering his almost minimalist style of shaping, which presents the pipe as a piece in its pure and undiluted form, with no need for pomp or circumstance.

All of these factors are on display in this Asymmetrical bent Apple. The well-rounded bowl and fluid line of its shank are aspects Xu Hai has used before, the aesthetic nodding toward that minimalist view, and it's in the details that it departs from the norm. The weight of the bowl has been shifted, not lower, but to one side, in a careful ebb most noticeable at the rim, where the chamber follows suit with that shift, but also in hand, with one side boasting just a hint more of that smooth, supple roundness to its flanks. The change is subtle, yet impossible to overlook, even if it is tempting to be distracted by the wealth of flame grain that surrounds the bowl and shank's flanks, or the birdseye packed onto the base, or the crisp band of sterling silver at the shank end. It's a beautiful piece, and certainly worthy of Xu Hai's highest "Panda" grade, as well as pairing with one of his fetching, handmade bamboo tampers.