Sandblasted Bent Dublin with Horn (B) Tobacco Pipe

When one considers Max Rimensi's vast portfolio, shapes like his signature Rhodesian rendition and sleek, pencil-shanked designs come readily to mind. Every now and then, though, the Italian carver strays from those recognizable shapes for a different design. Here, this piece is a sweeping bent Dublin, stretched of shank and stem and tucked of transition to accentuate the bowl's upward flare. The chamber is well insulated by the bowl's thick walls, and the plateau crown across the rim adds rugged texture in tandem with the sandblasted finish. Said finish is dressed in one of Il Duca's recognizable contrast stains, here displaying an earthy ochre yellow hue with streaks of darker tones, like grilled corn or squash. What especially separates this piece from the rest of Max's work, however, is the use of horn as an accent and how he's used it — fitting it around the stem base's expansion disk in a subtle application that bespeaks talented craftsmanship.