Smooth Speeding Fig Tobacco Pipe

This Abe Herbaugh design may bear a name indicating inspiration from Adam Davidson's Fig shape, but the changes made along the way to making it "Speeding" have been considerable. Basically, aside from a rounded top and an upward curve of shank, Abe didn't cling to much from Adam's original designs. The bowl, obviously, is way different: far trimmer, and leaping forward with a curve of line and shift of form, and even seeing the small, Cutty-like foot of the Davidson shape replaced with an implied spur made up of nothing more than the meeting of natural lines at the heel. There are some interesting functional aspects to this design as well, the most obvious being that it sits — but also that the trim transition combined with a D-shaped shank cross-section and a forward-swept bowl makes this pipe just perfect for holding in the crook of an index finger.

- Eric N. Squires