Partially Sandblasted Sphinx with Horn Tobacco Pipe

Trey Rice has worked with wood since he was a child and carved the first pipe he ever owned, now leveraging his years of experience in carving and architecture to create alluring artisan pipes that draw on the Danish, American, and Anglo-French schools of pipe making. The Sphinx is an old Bo Nordh shape that falls into a similar style as his Elephant's Foot and Shield shapes, being a profile defined by its crisp line work and precise requirements for grain orientation. This particular iteration of the shape is an overtly aerodynamic take on the form, with particularly sleek lines flowing through its silhouette. The aft half of this piece contributes to this look significantly, as the short shank tapers out of the wide transition to meet a flaring horn accent that's been inlaid with a ring of brass to make a sturdy push-style mount for the stem. This stem is a sleek, semi-extended saddle of black vulcanite whose base has been carved with a gradual flare ending in an expansion ring, mirroring the look of the horn accent. The stepped look of this arrangement and the sleek bit of the stem create a look reminiscent of a jet turbine and exhaust, making the bowl seem as if it's rushing forward. The bowl reinforces this look, with a defined forward urge aided by the wrapping ridge surrounding its fore wall. This ridge flows through the flanks and curves back to define the heel, creating a vast, ovoid panel at the front and a muscular presence in hand. Dressed in a rich partial sandblast, the back half of the bowl and the shank showcase rippling grain and a dark stain, while the fore panel is dressed in a rich, smooth finish and displays dense birdseye.