Partially Sandblasted Tokutomi Volcano (1224) Tobacco Pipe

From hand carving and filing briar blocks in his home over ten years ago to studying under the likes of master carvers Tom Eltang, Jeff Gracik, Hans "Former" Nielsen, and Nanna Ivarsson, David Huber has established himself as a premier artisan pipe maker — each of his pieces meticulously crafted by hand and always imbued with the utmost precision, detail, and quality. He often challenges the boundaries of pipe design, and Huber's portfolio impresses with a vast array of creative designs, often honoring iconic carvers that came before him while also showcasing his own personal stylistic acumen.

This Volcano design is one that Huber has experimented with for years, and it's inspired by Hiroyuki Tokutomi's signature approach to the shape. Toku's version was defined by a traditional Volcano bowl, with a ridgeline dividing the upper bowl from the heel, but with a shank that curled to one side into a point. In this piece, Huber riffs off of that foundation but integrates intricate ridgelines and facets into the otherwise smooth-flowing form. A ridgeline defines the top of the curling shank, and it continues down the shank's end into a recurved tail that adds yet another curling line to the composition. By contrast, the bowl is more muscular and almost Cubist in its design, and in profile, its lines urge back toward the shank, imbuing the whole pipe with a dramatic, implied momentum — as if the piece is moving forward so quickly that the bowl is being forced back. Dressed in a dual finish, the majority of the stummel wears a crisp, dark-stained sandblast that's accented by a smooth, ruby-finished rim and underside saturated with birdseye.