Il Cerchio: Natural Partially Sandblasted Volcano with Bamboo and Boxwood Tobacco Pipe

Since 2015, Smokingpipes has held the American Pipe Making Exposition, a celebration of America's finest artisans who gather together a bespoke selection of their best work, all revolving around a central theme. For 2024, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Expo, Smokingpipes has expanded participation to include entrants from around the world in what will henceforth be known as the Global Pipe Making Exposition. Fittingly, 2024's theme is bamboo, the same as the first Expo, and it's an opportunity for carvers worldwide to show off their most inventive, innovative compositions.

Angelo del Prete crafts Il Cerchio pipes out of Pordenone, Italy, and his work often fuses aspects of the Danish and Japanese schools, all infused with his own personal sensibilities. This Volcano is an excellent example of that style, looking overtly Japanese in profile and showcasing a decidedly sculptural, organic silhouette unlike most anything we've seen from the artisan before. There's a lot to be said about a pipe's verticality as it relates to the dynamism of that pipe, and this particular piece displays a staggering degree of curve through its shank and stem: creating a poised and remarkably active look. The transition here is nearly parabolic, its wide curve giving way to a short, sweeping shank that tapers swiftly to meet a length of bamboo at a trim band of black vulcanite, this bamboo numbering six knuckles of the sturdy grass. Rather than simply extending the shank, the bamboo also creates an Oom-Paul-like smoking posture that poises this piece for easy jaw-hanging and balances some of the bowl's visual weight, its organic outline making a smart arc back toward the bowl before being met by a sleek, deftly curved saddle stem of black vulcanite. The natural rhythm of the bamboo is punctuated by small nodes at each one of the knuckles, and the largest of each of these nodes has been inlaid with a domed boxwood accent, while the base of the stem continues the rhythm via an angled, asymmetrical expansion ring.

Up front, the bowl stands on a lifted heel and rests atop the Volcano's iconic, low-set waist and domed base, the bamboo-fitted shank and the stem presiding over top like a scorpion's tail. The walls of the bowl are actually rather squat, though they're quite broad, making a swift taper from the base to a concave. The natural asymmetry of the bamboo, coupled with the intentional asymmetry of the stem base, perfectly accentuates the bowl's own subdued asymmetry, as the lower right flank pushes out further and lower than the left. As this lowered mass shifts the outline of the bowl into a more organic-looking Volcano shape, it creates a steeper slope and a bolder look when the pipe is flipped, amplifying its already impressive visual appeal. The steep trajectory of this pipe naturally guides the eye along its central S-curve, holding one's attention at the plumpest area of the base and encouraging one to take in the stunning birdseye covering the underside, all while a rich pattern of ring grain flows over the rest of the bowl beneath the stummel's crisp tanblast.