Ichi Kitahara Swimming Blowfish, Smooth Handmade Estate Briar Pipe, Japanese Estates [SOLD]

Description

Ichi Kitahara is a Japanese pipe-maker, but he’s also something of a renaissance man. He is classically trained in fine art; he has spent time as a high-end jeweler and silversmith; he has also worked as an Itame, the Japanese name for a particularly skilled sushi chef; and last, but not least, he is an artisan maker of high-grade pipes. This he originally learned as an apprentice of Japanese master Hiroyuki Tokutomi, before evolving into a master in his own right, with his own, distinct style.

Though difficult to employ, one of the most interesting things that can be done with bamboo is creating shapes that are, in most circumstances, not able to otherwise be pulled off. While not as wild as some of the shapes bamboo can afford, this pipe from Japan’s Ichi Kitahara exhibits a curvature from bowl to button that would otherwise necessitate an awkward angling of its draft hole. This curvature along the pipe’s vertical axis is coupled with a slight bend in the pipe’s horizontal axis, allowing the pipe’s archetypal form – the blowfish – to also look as though it is “swimming.”

The condition is near-mint. It is pre-smoked, but barely.

 

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.75 / 19.05mm

Bowl Depth: 1.57″ / 39.87mm

Weight: 1.1oz / 34g