Partially Sandblasted Volcano with Bamboo Tobacco Pipe

In case it sold before you even got to this page, let it be known that this Volcano has sibling: a smooth-finished and dark bamboo accented, but otherwise essentially identical twin. I can't blame Abe for making two of these pirouetting sitters in a row, frankly. He really hit on a beautiful and interesting shape here, and if he so happened to have at hand two pieces of briar that he thought would work with it, so be it. Where the other went dark, smoky and polished in palette, this rendition is lighter and fresher: a barely-there depth of sandblast bringing out delicately very fine, tight rings, a subtle contrast stain that's warm and earthy where the briar's blasted, a more vibrant ruby where smooth, and of course an extension of pale, rather than black bamboo.

- Eric N. Squires