Smooth Bent Dublin with Masur Birch (242) (Signature) (2024) 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. His works often incorporate subtle aspects of asymmetry into their compositions, and this bent Dublin is a good example of that style. A stout and extremely muscular take on the shape, this piece offers plenty of substance to appreciate in hand, all in a relatively compact package less than five and a half inches long. The transition is tight, and it gives way to a thick shank that lifts sharply and flares out to its domed face, which is recessed at its center to allow the stem's base to nestle in and create a uniform composition. This stem is a sleek saddle of demurely downturned black vulcanite, one whose base is accented with a broad fitment of masur birch that flares out toward the base and mirrors the look of the shank. On the right flank of the shank, a crisp ridgeline starts and runs the length of the stummel, creating a subtle point on the shank face and terminating at the rim. The ridge follows the bowl as it flares out expressively from the rounded heel, the rim marked by a bevel into its surface, where it takes on a fluid, organic kind of asymmetry that's evocative of gentle waves. The ridge contributes to this pipe's asymmetry a good bit, drawing the eye to the lowest point of the rim's undulation and sharpening it subtly while keeping the silhouette consistent across both sides. Dressed in a rich, vibrant, auburn-toned smooth finish, the stummel reveals flickering flame grain surrounding the bowl, while the vast rim is awash with a veritable sea of birdseye.