Smooth Hawkbill with Bakelite Tobacco Pipe

The Hawkbill is one of Silver Gray's most recognized and celebrated shapes. It's a design most closely associated with heritage Italian workshops, and Silver is among the only artisan pipe makers to regular craft Hawkbills, fashioning each one entirely by hand — from stem to stummel. The Hawkbill is most characterized by its distinctive shank and stem arch, and the bowl shape can vary rendition to rendition. This particular iteration by Silver is among her most typically, featuring an Egg-like bowl on the end of a continuously curving shank. The tapered stem beautifully continues the shank's dramatic curves, ensuring that the lines from transition to button remain clean and uninterrupted in profile. Ridgelines along the shank's sides add a touch of firmness to the composition and accent the rest of the piece's gentle curves. Most of all, though, Silver has shaped this piece wonderfully to maximize the briar's grain: Consistent tendrils of flame grain wrap about the bowl, dissipating into birdseye along the heel, and the vertical grain along the right flank perfectly follows the shank's dramatic curve. Lastly, it's fitted to a stem of antique Bakelite, complementing the stummel's auburn stain and revealing a semi-translucent, tortoiseshell hue.