J Mouton Smooth Contrast Fugu Sitter Handmade Briar Pipe, New

Description

Born and raised in the small town of Gueydan, Louisana, Jason Mouton’s rise in the ranks of American pipe makers has been nothing less than meteoric—and for good reason. Having crafted duck calls since he was a teenager, Mouton’s first forays into pipe making began with carving tampers. Mouton’s unexpected and substantial successes with these handmade tampers encouraged and allowed him to purchase the equipment needed to create pipes themselves. Studying the works of renowned American artisans such as J. Alan, Grant Batson, and Jared Coles, Mouton gradually developed his own pipe making craft, which was furthered by his exchanges with Greek artisan Chris Asteriou. Today, Mouton’s works are some of the most sought after on the artisan market, a demand which he has responded to—and not unlike his beginnings in carving tampers—by reinvesting his successes into an unwavering advancement of his skills and technique.

While it may have originated in late 20th century Denmark, the blowfish shape has propagated far and wide in the decades since, with companies and artisans across the globe each producing their own, novel renditions. While the early blowfishes of Lars Ivarsson were almost as plump and round as their ballooning namesake, subsequent figures, such as Peter Heeschen, introduced a new “species” that was decidedly narrow, broad, and geometrically inclined, invoking their namesake once more, but this time “at rest.” Louisiana’s J. Mouton has produced a fair few blowfish renditions across his career, though the variety he appears most drawn to are not those of Denmark, but of Japan. This particular pipe is the second pipe in Mouton’s most recent batch for us with a Japanese edge to it, and indeed the second with a connection to the late master Hiroyuki Tokutomi. Like Tokutomi’s fugu variations, Mouton’s approach here blends elements of both the Ivarssonian and Heeschenian blowfish shapes, while also introducing symmetry-breaking elements—facets, contours, diverging lines, and, in this instance, an eruption of live briar plateaux at its left face—that lend the design a far more contemporary dynamism.

Details:

Length: 5.2″ / 132.0mm

Bowl Width: 0.81 / 20.57mm

Bowl Depth: 1.52″ / 38.60mm

Weight: 2.1oz / 60g