Sandblasted Hawkbill Sitter Tobacco Pipe

The Hawkbill is a dramatic shape, though this rendition from Silver Gray has taken a few liberties with the traditional design. The classic, Ball-like bowl has been kept wide and round near the rim, but tapers steadily downward, its heel elongated to create a small, flat panel on which the piece sits steadily on a flat surface. Its shank, in turn, sports a more modest bend, coming to its highest point just below where the rim's bevel begins, rather than on level with the rim itself. These modifications only serve to enhance the shape's already charming and affable nature — this writer can't find a position in which it's uncomfortable to hold, and its overall proportions remain compact enough to easily carry about. It's been finished in a warm sandblast, with ring grain neatly stacked up its bowl, and the pastoral tone has been matched with a stem of rich, darker-hued cumberland.

- Rachel DuBose