Smooth Bent Bulldog Tobacco Pipe

While a wide, diamond shank is pretty standard for a bent Bulldog, Silver Gray has carefully balanced this one to accomplish dual goals: to keep focus on the piece's bowl, while maintaining a solid figure all the way through. This is accomplished by keeping the shank's width on level with that of the bowl, allowing for seamless movement from one to the other, with only the bead-line and tapered rim widening past the shank's borders. Its transition has been neatly tucked just below the bead-line, allowing for a gestural bend that is mirrored in the heel's turn. Rather than ending this shape at its shank, the stem has been used to complete the established lines of the stummel, drawing them into a taper that creates a cohesive piece, proving Silver doesn't leave stems as an afterthought. Grain has not been left to chance, either, with flame sweeping up its bowl to the bead-line, and tight whorls of birdseye packed onto the rim. From shape to grain, warm contrast stain to violet, brindle-patterned stem, nothing here has been done by accident, and the results are stunning.

- Rachel DuBose