Smooth Bent Egg Tobacco Pipe

A sublimely smooth, yet very compact display of Tokutomi's signature "balanced asymmetry" approach to design, this bent Egg packs a whole lot of lovely lines and perfectly soft contours into quite a handy pipe. While the shaping is plenty dynamic, it's neither brash nor loud, and so it seems only fitting that Toku's finished this piece in a quieter, more understated contrast stain - though one that still has no difficulty bringing out the briar's plentiful flame grain. As pleasing as this masterful creation of the Japanese school may be to the eye, from my perspective at least, it really needs to be held in hand to be fully appreciated. It's one of those designs that's just plain difficult to stop fidgeting with, much less put down.

- Eric N. Squires

- Eric N. Squires