This cue has finally arrived after a wait of nearly two years. It was a massive work, and although I had some part in the design, Pete Tonkin deserves most of the credit for the creativity and of course, all of the credit for the execution. And, as always his execution is perfect.
When this project began, I asked for a cue that had four points up and down with ivory inlays between them. Then, I asked for a handle of ebony with the same point pattern reversing back into the handle area, with some inlays in the middle of the handle. I had a ring pattern in mind and suggested the two "L"s forming the small squares. Beyond that, it was all Pete. By staying out of his way and letting his creative juices flow from that point, the end result became one of the most fantastic cues ever made - at least in my opinion and many others who have seen it. I had seen a couple of the big cues he had done the past two years - particularly the ones that won the "People's Choice Award" at Valley Forge two years in a row. I was after something that was in that same class, and was not disappointed.
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Below are some additional pictures of this cue, and Mike Verkruyse of Illinois did such a wonderful job of putting this collage together for me, I was anxious to get it up for people to see it.
This cue begins with a base of Honduran Rosewood burl, with a handle of ebony. As you can see it is essentially an eight-point palindrome design, with the same points being recreated in a mirror image back up into the handle. Notice the solid silver veneers that are both on the outside AND inside of the colored wood veneers. All the lines are clean and as straight as can be, as Pete uses black paper in-between. All of the silver is outlined in ivory .005 thick. And, of course, everything white in the cue is ivory.
It combines a number of native-American designs. The mid-section of the handle is circled with the "Mountain" motif, and there are "frog feet" both above and below. The ring pattern is also an early native-American design. The small overlaid silver triangles used between the base of the points is called a "fish back" symbol.
There are more than 750 individual inlays in this cue. It is currently not for sale.
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| Silver Pattern Represents Mountains |
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| Silver Bars Called "Frog's Feet" |
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