HS Studio Sandblasted Blowfish w/ Boxwood Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

Description

If you’ve been keeping up with the world of Chinese pipe making, their artisan scene has been really taking off over the last decade. Like the great Danish institutions of old, many of these pipes are produced in artisan workshops such as Zhiputang, Qi Studio, and GH Zhang. Hong Kong’s HS Studio follows a similar model, with a team of expert in-house carvers crafting high-quality briars in a variety of styles.

The blowfish is a shape that has captivated artisan pipe makers ever since its creation by a young pipe maker by the name of Lars Ivarsson. While many blowfishes today are characterized by an abundance of planes and panels, Ivarsson’s blowfish was more in keeping with the creature itself: broad, bulbous, and eminently organic. If you can name a high-end carver that has worked in the decades since Ivarsson’s meteoric ascent, there’s a significant chance they’ll have crafted one blowfish in their lifetime—and a good chance that they’ll have crafted a fair few.
This one, from HS Studio, is a wonderful rendition, taking full advantage of the bowl’s ballooning figure to highlight the deep, ring grain patterns of the bowl after a good blast. A slight contrast finish accentuates the grain even further, progressing up the pipe’s teardrop shank to an accent of boxwood.

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating.

 

Details:

Length: 6.2″ / 157.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.77 / 19.55mm

Bowl Depth: 1.39″ / 35.30mm

Weight: 2.3oz / 66g