Sandblasted Volcano with Bakelite Tobacco Pipe

Tutelage from Jody Davis and Todd Johnson early in Pete Prevost's career helped to hone the American carver's pipe-making skills and also led to Johnson and Prevost founding BriarWorks together years later. Prevost currently serves as the workshop's president, while also crafting his own handmade artisan work — with his compact, muscular shaping style handsomely displayed here.

Rendered in diminutive Nosewarmer proportions, this Volcano by Pete Prevost is a stocky rendition of the form, complete with sleek, flowing line work for a presence in the hand that's both firm and graceful. The bowl sits atop a broad sweeping heel, its walls rising from a crisp ridgeline at the base and tapering toward a cinched waistline, where they then flare slightly to the sloping rim. An exceptionally thick shank curls upward from the transition and pairs to a demurely downturned saddle stem fashioned from swirling, wispy Bakelite. Contrasting the stem's more subdued palette, the stummel wears a rich, crimson-hued sandblast that reveals undulating growth rings all throughout, lending this piece a wealth of intriguing texture for the hand to appreciate.