Danish Estates: S. Bang Smooth Shield with Boxwood (PH) (03) (2011) Tobacco Pipe

After Svend Bang's retirement, long-time employees Per Hansen and Ulf Noltensmeier took over production for the S. Bang workshop and continued the marque's legacy. The pair themselves eventually retired in 2019, leaving behind a portfolio of pipes that are highly sought after and highly collectible. This Shield is one such design, and it showcases everything that pipe collectors have come to love and prize about S. Bang pipes.

Gorgeously finished, precisely shaped, and finely tuned, this piece is simply stunning. Unlike the typical Shield shape, the form's ridgeline is orientated at the fore of the bowl rather than across the middle. The ridgeline has the same effect, creating a pronounced, slightly bulbous fore wall, but its more subdued placement allows the bowl to retain a good deal more body and fullness than typical renditions. The ridgeline-wrapped fore slopes downward toward the heel, where it forms a slightly pronounced, Acorn-like point, which provides a touch of definition to the bowl's otherwise rotund form. The shank glides from the low-set at a downward angle before curling upward to meet a slender, demurely curved saddle stem of jet-black vulcanite. The shank-and-stem arrangement's trajectory reinforces the gestural poise of the bowl and provides the pipe with a rather dynamic appearance in profile. An auburn-hued smooth finish dresses the stummel and highlights a wealth of birdseye across the fore of the bowl and fine stacks of cross grain across the flanks. A boxwood accent adorns the shank face and offers just a touch of warmth to the composition, livening the pipe's somewhat reserved palette.