Smooth Bent Dublin with Bamboo Carved Horn Tobacco Pipe

Ping Zhan's pipes with bamboo-carved horn accents represent what I call the "novel which does not rely upon novelty". That is to say, the idea is certainly novel, but along with that there is an execution that shows great care, refinement, and eye for detail. The carved horn for one thing really does look just like natural bamboo, medium aside, right down to the fine creases found at the base of each knuckle and a just-right degree of asymmetry. For another, he chooses his pieces of horn very well to complement this carving style.

Previously we've seen him use a medium shade of horn, then a piece that was pale along one side while dark along the other, and now here we find a purely pale piece of horn. It is in the medium-to-pale range that this carving really shines; there's just something about the greater translucence of these shades that really brings out the beauty of it, in the same manner some types of stone (alabaster, for example) lend a delicate translucence to works of sculpture.

At the end of the day it also speaks well of Ping's approach that these accents are indeed just accents. They are something extra, worked into a pipe design that would already be interesting and fetching by itself. Just look at this flame-grained Dublin, for example, and its striking, easy-flowing play of changing elevation and texture at the rim.

- Eric N. Squires