Sandblasted Bent Acorn with Bamboo (Turtle) Tobacco Pipe

This bent Acorn combines two of Gabriele dal Fiume's signature aesthetic cues, in that it is both organic of disposition and seemingly Danish-inspired to boot. The bowl seems to evoke some manner of wild mushroom, while the three knuckle stretch of dark bamboo at the shank drives home the point. It's curious that we haven't seen many bamboo-adorned pieces from the Italian carver too, despite the inspiration he often takes from the natural world. As for the Danish-inclined shaping, to my eye the form evokes the look of Sixten's Peewit, though a decidedly more exaggerated iteration, and the plateau-adorned rim leads to a succinct, well-defined heel in profile. It wears an awesome contrast sandblast, highlighting a wonderful display of tight growth rings climbing all flanks.

- Daniel Bumgardner