Smooth Lumberman with Masur Birch (Diamond) Tobacco Pipe

With a PhD. in molecular biology, doctor Peter Heding began carving pipes in 2003, feeling an intense urge to pursue some kind of handicraft-style work. In 2006, Heding quit his job as a researcher and dedicated himself to a full-time pipe-making career, developing a shaping style typified by its soft curves, clean lines, and subtle plumpness. This Lumberman is an excellent example of that style, staying true to the shape chart standard's conventions while infusing it with a distinctive suppleness that makes it delightfully comfortable in hand. The transition is wide, with plenty of room to drape a digit, and it gives way to an extended, ovoid shank that tapers gently as it reaches toward a sleek saddle stem of black vulcanite. This shank's taper is striking, as the top line reaches out straightly, while the underside lifts extremely gently, diminishing the shank and creating a lifting look that lends the aft side of this pipe some extremely understated verticality. The stem's slender saddle focuses much of the visual weight on the stummel, though it wrests some of this back thanks to a broad accent of masur birch at the base. Up front, the bowl stands atop a rounded heel, its walls growing to a low-set waist that additionally marks the start of a subtly arcing taper to the domed rim, the thickness of these walls admirably insulating an appreciable chamber. The contours of these walls are not only wonderfully soft in hand, but are phenomenal displays for one of Heding's impressive, auburn-tinged stains, where it reveals a dense pattern of wrapping flame and straight grain. More gouts of flame striate the flanks of the shank, while the broad shank and thick bowl create a vast basin of birdseye across the underside.