Yuwei: Sandblasted Bent Bulldog Tobacco Pipe

Taiwanese artisan Yuwei Huang takes inspiration from Danish and Japanese pipe-making traditions and fashions highly stylized and organic shapes. Here, Huang presents a more traditional piece, something of a novelty within the artisan's broader portfolio. As one might expect from the classic form, this piece boasts a muscular, beadline-wrapped bowl and a sturdy diamond shank. Said bowl stands atop a lifted heel and grows thick walls that flare gently to the aforementioned beadlines before tapering sharply into a domed rim. The crisp ridgelines of the diamond shank extend through the transition and frame either flank of the bowl, while additionally imbuing the heel with a structural, prow-shaped fore. This shaping cue closely relates the pipe's fore and aft and fosters a visually cohesiveness that continues even through the saddle stem, whose base is fashioned to mirror the build of the shank. An earth-toned sandblast completes the ensemble and highlights rugged grain across the briar's surface.