Sandblasted Bent Dublin Sitter with Bloodwood (Friar) (A23) (76) 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 bent Dublin Sitter as well, its under five inches of reach balanced by its stocky proportions.

This Friar-graded piece boasts a muscular bowl that flares from its lifted heel to its broad, domed, Rhodesian-like rim. Said bowl is paired to a teardrop shank that reaches high at the pipe's aft and joins a demurely curved saddle stem. The shank's wrapping ridgeline lends a pronounced structure to the shape's outline and lends the shank itself an asymmetrical face, which naturally draws the eye to the bloodwood ring that accents it. The totality of the stummel rests on a pedestal-like outcropping of briar that enables the composition to rest on a flat surface — an impressive feat of shaping and balance given the form's substantive, full-bodied build. A dark sandblast completes the ensemble and highlights stellar grain throughout the stummel.