Though Bill Shalosky certainly has a firm handle on an immense variety of shaping styles — most notably the school of American Industrial Design that's sprung up around the BriarWorks team— it's no secret that the Nashville based carver knows his way around an English classic. Undoubtedly there's no group of shapes more classic than the faithful straight Billiard and its long-shanked brethren, here represented by the round shanked and tapered stem Liverpool. As if to both lend stock to the archetypal design of this piece and to keep true to his own American aesthetic, Bill has finished it in a walnut stain over a slightly more rugged than usual sandblast, paired to a Cumberland stem that's been tweaked to be a little longer than the average Liverpool.

— Adam M. O'Neill