Yang Kun: Sandblasted Acorn (248) Tobacco Pipe

Originally a makeup artist in the Chinese film and television industry, Yang Kun developed a fascination with pipe making after his friend showed him a book of Sixten Ivarsson pipes. Eventually, Kun left his job and transitioned to pipe making full-time, studying under artisan Hongjian Qiu and developing a style that combines elements of Danish pipe making with his own artistic sensibilities.

This Acorn boasts a compact length that belies its muscular build and solid in-hand presence. Such stubby measurements combined with such a bulky frame evokes the American school of pipe design, but Kun has fashioned this piece with a Danish-like emphasis on supple curves and clear, well-articulated lines — the latter of which exemplified by a teardrop ridgeline that descends from the bowl's aft and frames one side of the shank. Said ridgeline lends a touch of asymmetry to the shape's otherwise harmonious silhouette, as well as some captivating angularity to the soft-featured form. It's all handsomely dressed in a crisp, ruby-hued sandblast that draws out mesmerizing growth rings and birdseye throughout the stummel.