Michael Parks: Bamboo Branch with Leaf On Jade (Five Leaf) (1556) Tobacco Pipe

Since 2015, Smokingpipes has hosted the American Pipe-Making Exposition, celebrating the ingenuity and talent of artisan carvers across the United States. However, in 2024 the Exposition expanded to include all pipe makers around the world — the Global Pipe-Making Exposition, the first of its kind. Though broadened in participation, the Expo's format remained consistent with previous years: Artisans designed and fashioned pipes centered on a singular theme, distinct to each year, expressing the motif according to their own creative visions. For the first Global Pipe-Making Exposition, we returned to the Expo's very first theme: bamboo.

Countless hours went into this pipe from Michael Parks, resulting in a stunning sculpture of centerpiece status. Furthermore, its arresting aesthetic is matched by Parks' incredible precision and meticulous craftsmanship. The briar bowl is a broad, teardrop-shaped oval, and it's mounted between two impressive sections of bamboo: A brass mount comprises the internal joint for paramount durability, and a stainless steel tube is soldered to the joint and runs the entire length of the upper bamboo, forming the airways and allowing for the smooth passage of a pipe cleaner. Lastly, the vulcanite foot at the end of the lower bamboo and the top of the jade stand feature magnets that sturdily hold the pipe in place, though it also stands upright on its own.

Aesthetically, this pipe spans numerous motifs. As the name suggests, it reveals an organic theme, with the briar bowl resembling a leaf growing from a curved bamboo stalk. Its gesture and trajectory in profile, though, call to mind Art Deco plane statues — only in extraterrestrial, spaceship-like form. Moreover, the bamboo and the jade stand and stem dot combine for an East Asian-inspired aesthetic, while also offering a complementary color palette that's punctuated by the briar's gorgeous birdseye along the top and handsome, sandblasted texture below. Lastly, the hand-cut vulcanite stem is perfectly shaped to continue the bamboo's steadily curving taper, appearing in profile as one consistent piece and also calling to mind the elegant horn of some savanna stag. It's an exceptional example of Parks' renowned artistry and superlative engineering — more than worthy of desktop display and the Canadian carver's Five Leaf grade.