Werner Mummert: Sandblasted Bulldog with Glow in the Dark Resin Tobacco Pipe

Werner Mummuert has curated an aesthetic that's highly sculptural and inspired by art and architecture movements from around the world, most notably the Bauhaus, Brutalist, Art Deco, and Modern Art movements. Mummert's penchant for extremely exacting line work is showcased remarkably well across his signature renditions of the Bulldog, one whose silhouette immediately brings to mind Brutalist architecture. The impressive rigidity and firm structure of this shape are apparent at first glance, especially through the shank and stem, where the form's iconic diamond shaping is rendered with ample sharpness. Additionally, the shank takes on a subtle bit of taper from out of the transition, and this bit of taper underscores the sharpness of the ridgelines lining the aft side. The shank is paired to a trim saddle stem of pale, salmon-toned vulcanite, the rather vibrant tones interrupted at the base by a band of glow-in-the-dark resin that, when not under direct light or releasing its luminous energy, appears as a smoky black. At the underside, the shank is lined by a pair of ridges rather than a single example, and these ridges frame a small panel that runs from the stem base to the heel, sharpening the heel significantly. Up front, the bowl pairs to the shank via a wide, cheeked transition whose cleft-like lines further underscore the angularity of the composition. The bowl takes on a good deal of the visual weight, its walls flaring out understatedly from the heel's rakish terminus and reaching to an undulating rim that's inlaid with a pair of beadlines at the top: eschewing the more standard arrangement of beadlines or a ridge on the walls. At the lower flanks of the bowl, the ridges that line the sides of the shank continue flowing forward, lifting as they reach the bowl and creating a beveled, blade-like appearance up front that draws the eye. Dressed in one of Mummert's signature sandblasts and an inky stain, the stummel showcases craggy, rugged striations of growth rings flowing down the walls of the bowl and rippling up the shank: all contrasted by the unique tones of the stem and a small ring of red-stained briar on the innermost section of the smooth rim.