Smooth Freehand Volcano Tobacco Pipe

The overall check-mark like stance and more elaborate, sculptural layering of panels, ridges, and bridges of briar in this freehand Volcano actually remind me of one of Alex's other Volcano renditions we received a while back: Snail Climbing Mount Fuji. The heel is bolder here, however, and the silhouette more pronounced, with less focus on the sculptural and more emphasis placed on forward momentum and quick, implied motion. Overall then, you might say this piece is sharper in line and form than the Snail Climbing Mount Fuji, with the only supple curve occurring along the underside of the bowl — and only a slight one at that. And of course, as is the case with all of Alex's smooths, the grain is simply gorgeous. Recommended.

- Andrew Wike