TOKUTOMI PIPES

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MANTA SHAPE - Page 1

Compiled 2005 - 2006

NAVIGATION

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HORN EVOLUTION, 2003-2004

Written Spring 2005

I've documented the development of Toku's horns in exhibits at pipe shows and in my first article about Tokutomi for Pipes and Tobaccos Magazine. My research started with these photographs, while I was studying what I considered to be one of Toku's finest achievements, what I've called his "Floppy Horn," SPC 316 (made in late 2004). While this wonderfully fluid, beautifully organic carving seemed the culmination of his previous sequence of horn variations, I later discovered that it was also the starting point for his next series of explorations that led first to the Manta shape and then to his magnificent set of Large Mantas and Horns (documented elsewhere.)

"Floppy Horn" (2005)

The "Floppy Horn," SPC 316 is a pipe that I believe would have been a snail grade but for a small flaw, covered by the inlay. This pipe dates from the summer of 2004, when Tokutomi was in the process of redefining his grading system. Tokutomi-san here begins adding extraordinary flexibility to the front of horn shape. (Note: The flexibility of this horn contains the seeds for Toku's future Manta development.)

The creative distance Toku has traveled in a short time is clearly visible if we compare his latest horn with the one of the small horns he produced, about a year ago (SPC 124). Note particularly changes in how he handles the bottom ridge and the contours of the horn-sides. Similarities in form abound between the pipes, as does Toku's overall aesthetic, but the way Toku constantly stretches himself becomes tangible in how he is able to re-imagine pliability of shape and fluidity of line in his briar carvings.

BIGGER HORNS WITH INCREASING FLEXIBILITY

The beginning of 2005 saw Tokutomi using a thick ivory ferrule on a whimsical red horn (SPC 338) that partly looks backwards to earlier Delta-like designs; but the elongation and smoothing-out of the "tongue" along the bottom of the pipe also prefigures a central feature of the Manta shape.

SPC 316 (late 2004) and SPC 338 (early 2005)