Silver Gray: Sherlock Holmes Gourd Calabash with Meerschaum and Morta (with Tamper) Tobacco Pipe

Since 2015, we here at Smokingpipes have hosted the American Pipe-Making Exposition, which brings together many of the best pipe makers from around the nation and challenges them with a specific pipe-making theme. In 2023, the Expo focuses on alternative materials, requiring pipe makers to fashion pipes from something other than traditional briar. Here, Silver Gray offers her unique take on the 2023 Expo theme, fashioning a traditional gourd Calabash with additional alternative accoutrements.

Silver Gray gained a deft touch for artistic aesthetics after years of working as a seamstress and potter. Good friends with Brad Pohlmann, she eventually decided to give sculpting briar a try; under Pohlmann's tutelage, Gray quickly became a talented pipe maker. She always crafts well-engineered pipes for smooth smokes, and she has a particular affinity for the Hawkbill shape, as she incorporates the style's iconic shank-and-stem arrangement into an assortment of pipe shapes.

Although most Calabashes crafted today are made from briar, they were originally fashioned from gourds. Silver Gray continues this organic tradition with this traditional gourd Calabash. The sinuous gourd stummel has been hollowed out and dried, which causes the smoke to cool, creating a dry smoking experience. In keeping with tradition and the alternative material theme, the stummel rises to a meerschaum cap possessed of a capacious chamber. At the other end, the stummel joins to another alternative material, a morta shank end that houses the mortise, offering increased durability and showcasing the materials stunning geometric grain pattern. Additionally, the well-bent vulcanite stem offers a relaxed smoking posture and a comfortable clench.

Moreover, Silver Gray also employs a unique, historically-themed finish on this pipe. The stummel is stamped with the titles of Sherlock Holmes stories, with famous stories like Hound of the Baskervilles and Final Problem being prominently displayed. Additionally, this pipe includes a tamper fashioned from briar that proudly showcases rugged plateau and a detailed sandblast. Also, a special pipe bag is included that holds the stummel, stem, and tamper and is embroidered with "Silver 2023" to honor the Expo.