Luiz Lavos Sandblasted Tomato w/ Ivorite Estate Briar Pipe, Other Estates

Description

In a span of less than 10 years, São Paulo’s Luiz Lavos has worked his way to widespread international acclaim, occupying a position at the forefront of an exciting new movement in Brazilian artisan pipes. Like his contemporaries Gustavo Cunha, aka marTelo, Flavia Rodrigues, and Emanuel de Queiroz Emiliano, Lavos has help put Brazil firmly on the map as regards high-grade pipes, and like his contemporaries, he’s also had a rather prestigious pipe making education. Lavos’ development as a pipe maker has been aided by renowned figures from around the world, including Sabina Santos, Hans “Former” Nielsen, Premal Chheda, and Chris Asteriou. He has lived, learned, and worked in Europe and South America, and now resides in his native Brazil, carving high-end pipes for anyone lucky enough to get their hands on one.

Squat tomato shapes have been a staple of artisan pipe making since, arguably the Ukulele designs of Sixten Ivarsson, though it would be his apprentices and spiritual successors in the Danish scene, such as the late Jess Chonowitsch, Tom Eltang, and Jens “Tao” Nielsen who fully unlocked—to paraphrase D.H. Lawrence on Cezanne—the “tomatoyness of the tomato.” Today’s tomato renditions are, as such faithful to their namesake in their low-slung plumpness, though they are still by no means easy to pull off. This one, from Luiz Lavos, nails the modern tomato’s figure, managing to execute an impressively consistent, ring grain sandblast in the process. It’s nice to see that Lavos has gone out of his way to modernize the design even further, too, with a “dress pipe” motif centered around an ebonite and ivorite split stem.

The condition is very good. Some minor inner rim darkening.

Details:

Length: 5.1″ / 129.5mm

Bowl Width: 0.82 / 20.82mm

Bowl Depth: 1.14″ / 28.95mm

Weight: 2.2oz / 64g