Danish Estates: Sixten Ivarsson Sandblasted Tulip (1962) (Replacement Stem by Adam Davidson) Tobacco Pipe

With a craggy and undulating sandblast reminiscent of early Dunhills, this piece from Sixten Ivarsson was made almost 60 years ago, in 1962. It's seen a lot of history, and is itself an historically pertinent pipe made by the most famous and innovative pipe maker of the modern era, a carver who was personally responsible for influencing artisan pipe design and construction as we now know it.

The smooth flow of the shape is very Horn-like, but with the Tulip shape of the bowl inclining toward the rim, it departs from Horn shaping cues to commend itself with an organic curvature. The bowl is canted forward and the transition is very soft and gradual. Counterbalancing that forward arc is the downturn of the tapered stem, which is a replacement stem made by Adam Davidson. The original had a hole in it and could not be salvaged, but when one must have a replacement, no higher quality is to be found than from Adam's workshop. These elements all combine for a smoking instrument not only of profound individualism, but representative of the historical importance of Sixten Ivarsson himself.