Yuwei: Partially Sandblasted Spinning Fish Tobacco Pipe

Taiwanese carver Yuwei Huang is known to create sculptural, organic pipes which require a creative imagination and lots of skill. This Spinning Fish is a fine example of the artisan's shaping aesthetic, the form clearly demanding quality craftsmanship and an enormous dedication to precision.

Low-lying and twisted, this Rhodesian-like pipe combines fluid curves along with plenty of structural components, the broad-rimmed bowl wrapped by a pronounced ridgeline, while the lower bowl tapers to a paneled heel. A high-set transition, then, seems to "attach" to another segment, which is the shank, the bend preceding it deep, yet sinuously smooth and flowing. The shank, too, is wrapped by a ridgeline, its shaping in general aligning with the bowl. It's topped by a jet-black vulcanite stem, the totality in length of this piece under six inches. Yuwei has dressed the bowl in a grain-defining auburn stain, highlighting gorgeous whorls of birdseye along the rim and flame grain beneath the demarcating line. Birdseye is also seen on the smooth bend that adjoins the sandblasted shank, it, too demonstrating handsome growth rings in a rustic finish.