Sandblasted Prince with Silver Tobacco Pipe

Trey Rice has been involved in the art of creation since childhood, advancing out of toys and into woodworking, then architecture, and now pipe making. Trey's introduction into the world of pipes was courtesy of a friend who introduced him to the hobby while in college, and Rice was enamored almost immediately and sought to purchase one himself. Lacking funds, but familiar with woodwork, Trey began to carve himself a pipe. He hasn't stopped carving since then, and advanced his skills considerably as he continued, going on to receive tutelage from accomplished American carvers and incorporate new techniques into his work. With his growing skill came a finely tuned sense of taste, and his appreciation for the Danish school's great artisans, seminal American carvers, and historic English firms rings true in his work.

This Prince certainly leans more toward the English-inspired side of Trey's design outlook, with a classic silhouette that's sure to look familiar to enthusiasts of Anglo-French shape-chart standards. The stem here is a sleekly extended length of jet-black vulcanite that's lent a touch of curvature near the bit, offering a comfortable smoking posture and fitting to the stummel via a domed military mount of silver crafted by Trey himself. A wide transition marks the start of the shank and its gentle taper toward the silver at its end, the slender outline here reinforcing the sleekness of the composition's aft side and the stem's taper to the button. Compared to the shank, the bowl is rather stout, with a good deal of Tomato-like breadth to its rotund form, the walls taking on a gentle taper from the low-set waistline and rising to a softly domed rim. Dressed in a vibrant ruby stain with plenty of contrast, there's no shortage of lovely grain here, with rippling growth rings descending the circumference of the bowl while being striated by visible flickers of flame.