Smooth Volcano with Bamboo (A) Tobacco Pipe

This is one seriously cool volcano. I just described another Florov pipe that is serene, feminine, visually delicate. Not this pipe. This is a volcano with attitude. This is a pipe that could have come from the fires of Hephaestus, though I doubt that particular Greek god could have finished out the pipe any better than our friend Alex has.

From the wide bamboo shank to the upturned front-right of the base of the volcano, this piece has a masculinity and boldness to it that we rarely see in Alex's customarily lithe, visually delicate compositions. The bowl seems to lean off the right, extending itself upwards and forwards, but not quite making it. The small patch of plateau on the bottom back of the bowl heightens that sense of ruggedness. The bamboo to vulcanite stem transition is handled particularly deftly, with the lines created by the knuckle of the bamboo carried back into the stem and flipped around to create the outline of the saddle in the stem. The grain is good, with the flame grain around the bowl being not as impressive as the striking field of birdseye on the bottom of the bowl. A stunning creation from a gifted pipe maker.

-- Sykes Wilford