Smooth Nautilus Tobacco Pipe

Scores of literature could be written about the ways which carvers approach the shaping of a pipe's rim, and Peter Heding is one of those who certainly pays this particular cue the utmost attention. As a natural termination point, an inherent part of the silhouette, and often a point of immediate focus, the rim is something of a culmination of all the implied energy built up in the shape itself. Here, with this Nautilus, Peter opted to lend the surface area up front a bit of concavity, serving to both reinforce the form's characteristically organic profile and echo the stacked cross-grain accentuating the shape's gesture in profile. Finished in a brilliant, warm contrast, the shape is not one we see terribly often from the carver, as this fellow represents only the 3rd in our records, but the Danish artisan undoubtedly handles it beautifully, resulting in a form which hearkens to the aquatic namesake while exuding Peter's own unique style. Gorgeous work.