Smooth Tomato (Cardinal) (A24) (36) (2024) Tobacco Pipe

In addition to his accomplishments as a musician, Jody Davis is a revered American pipe maker, known for crafting some of the finest briars in the country. Like many American artisans, he favors relatively compact designs that prioritize muscular proportions over length — a quality clearly embodied by this tight-knit Tomato.

Possessing an Oom Paul–like build, this piece boasts a broad, full-bodied bowl and a high-climbing, nearly vertical shank-and-stem arrangement. The bowl is joined to the shank by a tight, almost enclosed transition, emphasizing the pipe's compact muscularity and drawing the composition into a taut, unified whole. The steeply arched saddle stem promotes a comfortable jaw-hanging posture and introduces a touch of dynamic gesture to the brawny shape.

Awarded Jody's prestigious Cardinal grade, this piece showcases stunning grain throughout: beautiful seas of birdseye cover the bowl's flanks; bands of cross grain frame the top, bottom, and fore; and a broad swath of plateau punctuates the lower aft. All that gorgeous grain is dressed in a vibrant, strawberry-blonde, smooth finish that deepens and enhances the natural beauty of the briar.