Smooth Forrestiana with Horn Tobacco Pipe

Abe Herbaugh is no stranger to dynamically-posed sitter shapes. Previously, Abe's lent his deft approach to the Fig shape, a neat, succinct bent Apple, and a dynamic, forward creation he dubbed the "Voodoo Lily" after its resemblance to Dracunculus Vulgaris. This curved, bulbous-bowled briar, with its alert, poised shaping in profile, follows the botanical suit, deriving its title from none other than the Eucalyptus plant. Specifically, the seed pod of the fuschia gum plant (Eucalyptus forrestiana), native to Australia. Seeking to accentuate the bowl's form in profile, Abe imbued both flanks of the forward-drooping bowl with a neatly-pinched ridge, making for an additional cue with which to futz in hand, as well as a means of highlighting some slight asymmetry when viewed from the fore. The grain is quite stellar as well, being a broad presentation of crisp flame all around, coupled with an underside's worth of stellar birdseye, accentuated by a fiery contrast stain. And rather than the more commonly-employed horn mount, Abe's opted for a domed stem base of the organic material.

- Daniel Bumgardner