Smooth Bent Brandy (Lion) Tobacco Pipe

Spectacular, fine straight grain entirely ensconces this extraordinary bent billiard from Lasse Skovgaard. A few years ago, when I first met him, Lasse was a recently discovered up-and-comer. Today, he has a clear spot in the pantheon of great Danish pipe makers. His aesthetic seems to combine elements from Teddy, which isn't surprising since Teddy taught both Lasse and his father, Benni, and rather more surprisingly, S. Bang. This piece seems to suggest both pipe makers_ the stem, the flip of the concave rim, the line that defines the bottom of the shank are all evocative of Teddy's work, yet the transition from shank to to bowl, and the modified-inverted-D shaped shank itself, both remind me of S. Bang.

The shape is beautifully executed, as fine as any I've seen from Lasse and, frankly, one of the best executions of this general shape I've seen from any pipe maker. It is the grain, though, that is particularly remarkable. Few pipes from any pipe maker sport grain of this caliber. Extraordinarily tight, super-fine straight grain covers the bowl, contrasted beautifully by the orange stain, terminating into spectacularly tight birdseye on the bottom of the bowl. Just remarkable.

-- Sykes Wilford