St. Patrick's Day 2010 (B2) Fishtail Tobacco Pipe

The 'B' series includes shapes that are a little different from the norm. Frequently this is created by combining elements of various traditional shapes in one shape-- the shank of a bulldog and the bowl of an apple, for example. Here, we have a rather unusual straight rhodesian. Think about that for a second. Most shapes have a name and the bent version gets called 'bent ____'. Not so with the rhodesian, which is an inherently bent shape. For reasons that I don't know, few pipe manufacturers pair a round shank with a bulldog bowl and make it a straight pipe. Anyway, Peterson does with the popular 'B2' shape, presented here in the St. Patrick's Day series, that features some large patches of birdseye and a mix of cross and windswept grain. I particularly enjoy the sharp contrast in lines at the bowl's right top.

--Cosmo Iannopollo