Smooth Volcano (Gold) Tobacco Pipe

Japanese. That was the first word that popped into my mind looking at this Peter Heding, even though this artisan, as far as I know, has never mentioned any Japanese artisans as particular influences. There's no asymmetry here, mind you, the thing that tends to most immediately mark the Japanese approach to freehand pipemaking, but the amount of natural wave-like motion captured in this Volcano's profile is, simply, up there with the best I've seen from Japanese-school artisans. From the flick of the duck-tail stem-base and counter-curve of the bit, to the powerful roll of the bowl's rounded underside, to the subtle, echoing curve of the rim, this is, simply, one beautiful Volcano shape. As for grain, the ink-and-water birdseye covering the underside is lovely and copious, and the flame is plentiful, with just a it of break-up towards the left-rear quarter and forward-right face of the bowl - which I suspect are the only things that prevented this briar (and design) from receiving the full "Diamond" grade.

- Eric N. Squires