Sandblasted Blowfish with Cocobolo (C23) (11) Tobacco Pipe

Jody Davis, in addition to being an accomplished musician, is also a venerated pipe maker who fashions some of the finest briars in the world. Like many American artisans, Davis tends to fashion relatively compact designs that emphasize muscular proportions over length, something true of this Blowfish as well, its under six inches of reach balanced by its muscular, reassuring heft in hand.

The Blowfish has become a staple within artisan pipe making, as its nonstandard form lends itself well to various interpretations. That being said, the Blowfish is notoriously difficult to craft, requiring a keen eye for detail and an understanding of how to shape a pipe to maximize the briar's grain patterns. Davis, of course, understands this, and has fashioned a striking rendition of the shape here.

Boasting a rather dynamic silhouette, this piece features a broad, low-slung bowl that's set to an upturned shank and a steeply curved saddle stem. The bowl, as is typical for the form, has been flanked by a pair of ridges which create asymmetrical panels on either side, the curvature of the bowl itself lending the structural ridges a good deal of organicism. Mirroring the bowl, the shank boasts some playful asymmetry of its own, with structural panels lopsidedly framing the flaring stretch of briar and offering further firmness to the composition that belies its lifting travel to the demurely curved saddle stem. The junction to this stem has been accented with a flared fitment of cocobolo wood, adding some visual emphasis to the aft side and contrasting the finish of the stummel well. A deep, inky stain dresses a crisp sandblast on the stummel here, revealing rippling growth rings through the middle, while the flanks of the stummel are replete with peaks of blasted birdseye.