Smooth Brandy with Mokume Spigot Tobacco Pipe

Though his shaping skill is prodigious, what often strikes me most about Roman Kovalev's work is his accent work. From polymerized moss to stabilized dinosaur bone, nothing is out of reach for Dr. Kovalev. His unique polymerizing process practically allows for any medium to not only be stabilized, but imparted with extreme strength and heat resistance as well. But Roman doesn't limit himself to this novel technique either. In this neoclassical straight Brandy, for example, he's actually incorporated a traditional Japanese artform into the design: Mokume-game.

First realized in the 17th century, Mokume-game is the product of a very complex and time-consuming process, in which precious metals of differing color are fused together and then rolled or manipulated to produce distinctive patterns similar to those found in the grain of various hardwoods. Its first application was in sword decoration, though it's currently used to produce intricate jewelry, flatware, and other functional artworks. Though we have seen Mokume-game as a pipe accent on a few of Rolando Negoita's creations, by our archives, never has it been fashioned into such a fully functional spigot mount as we see here. And damn if it isn't impressive.

- Andrew Wike