Sandblasted Canadian (Fukuda) (F) (188) (2015) Tobacco Pipe

This handsome Canadian shape from Fukuda of Tsuge Ikebana is a lovely, slightly robust rendition of the Billiard variant, imbued with a touch of muscularity to the long shank. This is expertly balanced by the visual weight of the bowl, allowing the carver to imbue it with a touch more height (and accordingly more chamber), but also making for a gorgeous canvas with which to showcase a stellar display of stacked, concentric ring-grain climbing steadily up all flanks. Fukuda opted for a very, very dark stain, befitting of its very English disposition, with just the lightest bit of warm contrast stain for the stamping at the shank's underside. A gorgeous piece, indeed.