Sandblasted Liverpool with Silver (84/17) Tobacco Pipe

Chris Asteriou took us all by surprise early in his career with his gorgeous and well-executed renditions of the classics, taking age-old forms and smoothing down the lines or tweaking the stance just a little to modernize the shape overall. While the Greek carver has certainly experimented with and excelled at wilder Freehand forms over the years, it's still the simple, minimalist numbers like this Liverpool that resonate most with me, personally.

Around Group 3 in size, the bowl stands tall and true, with just the slightest hint of a broader waistline near the base. The shank is quite lean by comparison, with a smooth, barely discernible taper from the defined transition to the mouthpiece. And while the stem is a bit longer than you'd typically expect to see in a classic Liverpool, its extra length does work to accentuate that taper quite nicely. Chris was obviously looking at older catalogues when he fashioned the piece's broad sterling silver band, as that wider style of accent was a common theme back in the day. Still he's modernized even that, making sure it fit flush and followed the taper of the shank evenly — resulting in a seamless silhouette in profile. Top all of that with a crisp, dense display of ring grain and a classic Dress stain, and there's just so much to love about this modern classic from Asteriou.