Sandblasted Long Shank Brandy Tobacco Pipe

This long-shanked Brandy from Brad Pohlmann strays from the America artisan's flowing, organic style, hewing closer to his fare of more classic pieces. That being said, this isn't a shape you'll find in some catalog of shape chart standards. Instead, it combines elements of various other classic shapes, fitting them all with Pohlmann's precise engineering and hearty American Industrial proportions. The bowl itself is rather traditional — a tapering Brandy built upon a plump base and heavy-set heel. Behind, though, trails an elongated, lenticular shank, the resulting ridges along the flanks making for a crisp, clean-lined disposition that continues into the base of the saddle stem. Said ridgelines halt dramatically at the transition, defining the bold bowl more drastically while the shank's lines are implied through the heel to keep the firm aesthetic consistent throughout the piece.

The design is one we've seen before from Brad, with this one being a touch taller and a bit more slender through the bowl, resulting in a deep chamber and more bowl-centric sense of proportions. Though the shank is pinched and not at all paneled, the ridgelined motif calls to mind Pohlmann's oft-seen, diamond-shanked Canadians, the hard lines of the elongated shank echoed in this piece here. Dressed in a well-executed, incredibly craggy sandblast and striking contrast stain, it feels natural in hand, while also being able to sit upright upon a slightly flattened heel that's riddled with dense craters of sandblasted birdseye.