Smooth Long Shank Acorn with Boxwood Tobacco Pipe

His Acorns may be among his more understated forms, but Alex Florov certainly imparts them with the same degree of detail as his more complex pieces. Indeed, this long shank Acorn exhibits a keen grounding in Danish shaping, with a soft-lined bowl, and one of the taller, more forward-ebbing variety, kissed about the rim with a wavy plane of plateau. The shank presents a very slight taper from the mortise to transition, leading the eye more directly to the bowl in profile (as it is the focal point), but also doing well to present an acute sense of balance, a result of the domed base of the downturned saddle stem. Accenting the shank's end is a ring of pale boxwood, pairing brilliantly with the warm contrast Alex employed here. Stunning work from the carver here.

- Daniel Bumgardner