Smooth Shield with Masur Birch (243) (Signature) Tobacco Pipe

Yang Kun is a Chinese artisan whose years of work in the film and television makeup industry and intense love for the Danish school of pipe carving have combined to lend him a uniquely organic and wholly expressive carving style. Alongside shapes like the Ballerina and Ramses, the Shield was originally designed by Swedish artisan Bo Nordh, and it's reminiscent to another one of his signature shapes: the Elephant's Foot. This particular iteration of the shape stays true to the iconic archetype, though it emphasizes an organic kind of angularity that sets it apart from other examples, especially when coupled with this piece's rather compact musculature and bowl-forward construction. The bowl itself stands atop a sweeping heel, one lined by a firm ridgeline that flows out from the transitional area, with this ridge starting from the foremost point of a triangular foot that allows this pipe to sit. The foot not only works to let this pipe rest but acts as the center of the composition, drawing the eye immediately thanks to its sharp protrusion and the ridges that flow out of it. At the flanks of this foot, an additional pair of ridges start their travel toward the rim, rising and urging forward before curling up and framing the bisected fore wall with a pair of panels. These panels are angled toward the centermost ridge and jut toward it sleekly before the ridge breaks into a craggy streak of organic plateau that continues to the rim. This plateau tempers a good bit of the angularity developed by the pipe, and it informs a bit of the fore walls' shaping, as the center ridge curves slightly to the left to accommodate the plateau and keep it more centered in the composition: revealing Kun's skill for rendering subtle details. The plateau also highlights the pronounced lift at the rim's fore, further enhancing this piece's dynamic look. Unlike the fore, the aft wall is thoroughly rounded, making for a comfortable feel in hand while leaving room for the transition to be open. Said transition gives way to a lifting shank that pinches near the middle before flaring out to meet a sleek saddle stem of demurely curved black vulcanite, one accented with a broad band of masur birch at the base. Dressed in a vibrant, auburn-tinged stain, the stummel showcases stunning grain, with flame following the shank and curling into cross grain at the aft side of the bowl. The front of the bowl, naturally, is awash with exceptional birdseye packed very densely across both panes of the wall, sure to keep the eye engaged.