Smooth Spathe Tobacco Pipe

Abe Herbaugh's style of shaping takes cues from nature, and that is perhaps most obvious in this Spathe shape. Designed after the reproductive center of the arum flower, it's a design that is low, curling, and uses delicate linework to mark the edges of the shape quite neatly. To further emphasize its organic nature, it's been finished in a smooth polish and red-hued contrast stain — the better to show off the briar's natural grain, particularly the broad display of tight birdseye at the fore, accented by licks of cross-grain at the flanks. It's an undeniably nature-centric piece, and just the sort of detail-oriented design we've come to expect from Abe. Recommended.

- Rachel DuBose