Smooth Extra Large Freehand (Saint) (B24) (34) Tobacco Pipe

Widely considered among the godfathers of American artisan pipe making, Jody Davis boasts a multi-decade career that has burgeoned numerous carvers after him. Davis was one of the first American pipe makers to adopt the pipe-making process and aesthetic inclinations of such Danish masters as Sixten and Lars Ivarsson and Jess Chonowitsch, and his pioneering progress has indelibly influenced the current thriving state of American artisan pipe making.

This Freehand by the American carver presents his more creative side, allowing the natural orientation of the briar grain to wholly influence the shape. It most readily resembles an Acorn at the bowl with a slightly bulging rim and a demurely tucked transition that aligns beautifully with the serpentine curl of the shank and stem. Most striking is the breadth of the shank: Despite its graceful curvature it presents a muscular demeanor that rivals the bowl's muscularity. Moreover, the shank's upward turn is entirely informed by the grain's trajectory, with vertical striations curling in concert with Davis's shaping. On the right flank, though, those vertical bands fan out from a defining ridgeline that renders the shank teardrop in cross section. Said line travels from the stem base, through the heel, and into the bowl before it combines tastefully with a section of the briar's natural plateau, offering a hint of texture and alluring asymmetry. Such immaculate grain is highlights by a vivid contrast stain, and the pipe's combination of shaping and grain has earned it Davis's Saint grade — second only to his coveted "Halo" stamp.