Smooth Pickaxe (Four Hearts) Tobacco Pipe

The theme here is familiar enough — in his last years Paolo Becker turned out a lot of these modern, wasp-waisted designs in various Cherrywood, Pot, and Pickaxe forms. This one, however, differs from most, both in its unusually light and fine proportions (Paolo typically having made these some of his broader pipes), and in being shaped from briar (Paolo having favored morta in rendering these shapes). This latter point, then, may well explain why, despite having see many examples of this family of shapes, this particular Pickaxe is only the second of them that ever came our way of "Four Heart" grade — a grade where polished, contrast-stained, and beautifully grained briar was the standard.

- Eric N. Squires