Smooth Bent Egg with Bamboo (Kikuchi) (F) (125) Tobacco Pipe

Another one of those classic shapes that we haven't seen much of since Asami (and later Ohi) took the majority of production in Tsuge's Ikebana line, the Egg hasn't been spotted here since mid last year. I'm unsure exactly how it came to be, but this example is quite reminiscent of Eggs from the Danish school — reminding me specifically of a Peter Heeschen Egg, though with less cant, a stouter shank, and a more pronounced curve and recurve to the shank and stem. It is, in fact, quite similar to the first couple of Eggs produced by Fukuda-san on his return from Denmark. It's only the third Egg we've seen from Asami, and the first in this low slung style, but she deftly adapted to it, coaxing some nice cross-cut and birdseye from the block, and nailing the rhythm between bowl, shank, and stem.

- Adam O'Neill