Michael Parks Smooth Nautilus (V) Tobacco Pipe

Michael Parks is a Canadian artisan known for his modern takes on shape-chart classics, drawing on his background in the arts to add beauty in form to superbly engineered smoking pieces. While Parks has a reputation for his fusion of traditional shapes and contemporary aesthetics, he does occasionally produce Freehand shapes such as this Nautilus. The Nautilus, like the Elephant's Foot and the Sphinx, was pioneered by the Swedish pipe maker Bo Nordh. The shape is meant to resemble its namesake sea creature, which this Nautilus from Michael Parks does well. The stummel forms a continuous loop of briar from the bowl's rim, around the heel and shank bottom via a softened ridge, and back above the shank to meet the bowl again just above the transition. Cross grain flows around the entirety of this loop, separating gorgeous curlicues of birdseye along the flanks. The stem grows out of the shank at an untraditional angle, unsurprising due to its unique looping shape. Interestingly, the majority of the stem is made from acrylic mimicking the natural hues of amber, but the base is brindled vulcanite, which introduces more opaque coloring and smoothens the change in color from stem to stummel.