Sandblasted Stemless Bulldog (Friar) (A17) (11) Tobacco Pipe

This is a Jody Davis signature — and quite a curious one too. The shape itself is a streamlined, classical rendition of the Bulldog, featuring a touch of softness around the lifting heel and subtly domed rim. The curious bit comes in at the stem (no pun intended), where Jody's fashioned one of his more unique styles of split stem: one which is actually embedded into the briar shank itself. Essentially this is a one piece pipe; the vulcanite bit is set into a base of briar, which itself is actually part of the shank, only stepped down and polished smooth to emulate the look of a traditional saddle. It's a neat feat of design, one which has gone on to inspire a whole host of artisans working with split stems. But there's nothing like a Jody Davis original.

- Andrew Wike