Danish Estates: S. Bang Smooth Pot (8) Tobacco Pipe

Per Hansen and Ulf Noltensmeier were the sole artisans employed by Svend Bang in his eponymous workshop for almost 50 years, starting in 1970 and producing pipes of superlative quality until their simultaneous retirement in 2019. As such, their work has now become extremely rare and, due to their exemplary smoking qualities and stunning beauty, supremely collectible, though, looking at this Pot, it's not hard to see why.

The shank and stem are both ovoid, lying very low, their shape and slenderness languidly flaring into the cheeked transition wherein the bowl blooms forth, its supple curvature felt in the hand readily. The bowl carries nearly the entirety of the visual weight of this piece, its heft balanced with grace on the end of the lithe shank and stem. The bowl stands atop a subtly lifted heel, the gentle elevation further accentuating the gracefulness of the profile and counterbalancing the muscularity of the bowl's heft. The rim is defined by a soft ridgeline, not quite as firm as other examples of the feature, the briar reaching up slightly into a domed apex before sloping into a chamfer at the chamber's mouth. Dressed in a warm, glossy mahogany stain, this piece from S. bang displays beautiful flame grain around the bowl, while dense birdseye peppers the top of the shank and rim, blossoming into a full field on the underside.