Smooth Blowfish (3824) Tobacco Pipe

A third-generation carver, Nanna Ivarsson continues the legacy established by her father and grandfather by producing some of the finest pipes in the world. Nanna spent her childhood in her grandfather's workshop, learning the intricacies of shaping, engineering, and finishing, and that early exposure to the craft is clearly reflected in her work. Nanna is widely considered one of the greatest living artisans, and her work represents the highest levels of craftsmanship within the medium. One doesn't need to look further than this Blowfish shape — as Nanna and the Ivarssons have called it — to understand the complexity and sophistication of her work.

Originally a shape pioneered by Nanna's father, the Ivarsson Blowfish is defined by its curling profile, round, Egg-like bowl, and single architectural ridgeline. Besides those aforementioned characteristics, the Blowfish is open for interpretation, and Nanna has fashioned different variations over the years. With this iteration, however, Nanna keeps things fairly streamlined, with the shape's features rendered with an exacting precision that seems effortless but no doubt took countless hours of refinement.

What's most immediately striking about this pipe is its sweeping, crescent-like build, which is made possible by a consistent undercurve that unites both the fore and aft of the stummel. This undercurve is highlighted, in profile, by the form's ridgeline, which here stretches from the rim, down one flank of the bowl, and across the length of the shank. Though, usually, any rigidity would offset a shape's suppleness, here, Nanna uses that structure to actually emphasize the shape's curvature. Additionally, the aforementioned ridgeline lends a touch of asymmetry to the shank face, which comes to a sharp point at one side and emulates the flicking movement of a biological fish's tail when its changing direction, furthering the composition's overall visual motif. Of course, being a Nanna pipe, the grain here is breathtaking, with tight tendrils of flame grain rising across the stummel's flanks and a sea of birdseye populating the underside, all this grain highlighted by a warm, glossy finish.