Smooth Bent Egg with Boxwood (Signature) (03.16) Tobacco Pipe

"It is only by going through a volume of work that...your work will be as good as your ambitions." - Ira Glass

Upon entering the world of artisanal pipemaking, there are few who would say that Wolfgang Becker wasn't ambitious, the catalyst for that decision being photographs of none other than Lars Ivarsson's work in a magazine, and the deciding factor being that if he was unable to afford such a pipe, he would make one. Even more ambitious was that he embarked on this journey alone, accruing an impressive self-taught skill set in the midst of it. It's only fitting, then, that this brilliant carver's ambitions would grow even loftier, surpassing even the standards previously set by his then-highest grade, the "Double Wolf Paw."

It was in this vein that the "Signature" was born, serving to represent the epitome of the carver's masterful body of work. This compact, gently curving bent Egg is supremely comfortable in hand, no doubt in part due to its subtly pinched, oval-like narrowness down the middle. The gentle tuck of the transition beckons the eye to the smart boxwood accented, which Wolfgang has neatly rendered in a concave arrangement. A warm, low-gloss contrast finish accentuates an entire left flank's worth of birdseye, coupled with a handsome patch of the same on the right surrounded by a generous halo of 3/4 and flame. A seriously phenomenal piece.

- Daniel Bumgardner