Yang Kun: Smooth Acorn with Horn (Signature) (2237) Tobacco Pipe

Yang Kun's background is rather interesting, with his professional life including being a makeup artist for television and film in his home country of China. In 2010 he was introduced to pipes and pipe making by a friend through a collected book of Sixten Ivarsson's work; two years later Kun quit his job in the entertainment industry to pursue pipe making as a full-time career. His trajectory in this respect benefited from training under experienced artisan Hongjian Qiu who, himself, was trained by some of the great Danish artisans, teaching Kun vital elements of the craft such as proper drilling and how to create a good draw while hand-funneling stems. His work reflects his deeply held respect for the Danish aesthetic, as well as a love for other Asian artisans, all tempered by his own unique, personal touch.

This Acorn is a lovely example of that style and presents with a strikingly compact build overall whose overall length is just over four and a half inches. The stem here is a sleek saddle configuration whose base is adorned with an expansion ring, this stem fitted to the stummel at a broad accent of horn that features a flared face which matches the expansion ring's flare. There's a slight bit of negative space in between these two materials' broad areas, creating a locus of visual interest that works to balance the bowl nicely. The shank is fairly muscular here, curling out and upward from a tightly-knit transition and poising the gently downturned stem for comfortable smoking. Up front, the bowl sits poised atop a firm, rounded point of a heel, its walls flaring gradually toward the domed rim, with the fore wall working alongside the travel of the shank to lend the stummel a slightly angular presentation. Outside of being domed, the rim is also dipped toward the middle and chamfered into the chamber, making it easier to load your favorite blends and drawing the eye to the heel which the dip sits directly above. Dressed in a vibrant mahogany contrast stain, the stummel showcases some stunning grain, with flame and straight grain pushing through the flanks and wrapping the bowl, while the rim and heel are covered in birdseye. The combination of shaping and grain here have earned this pipe Yang's highest grade, represented by his signature on the nomenclature panel beneath the shank.