Danish Estates: Jess Chonowitsch Smooth Lovat Tobacco Pipe

A living legend in the world of pipe making, Jess Chonowitsch has spent decades plying his craft. Well-known for his keen eye for clean, minimalist lines and well-balanced proportions, Chonowitsch's design sense has inspired countless pipe makers around the world. Perhaps not surprising for a former student of Sixten Ivarsson, Chonowitsch's work fits well within the Danish tradition of pipe making, a tradition that prizes sleek, utilitarian designs that are both aesthetically rich and designed to be high-performance smoking instruments. This Lovat is immediately recognizable as the work of Jess, from its elegant shaping to its stunning finish.

Shape-wise, this piece is fairly straightforward rendition of the classic design, pairing an upright Billiard bowl to a long, round shank and an abbreviated saddle stem. The shank-and-stem arrangement produces a sleek, streamlined profile that naturally leads the eye to the bowl, which here is quite stocky and stoically posed atop a firm, muscular heel. The bowl's stout build and rigid posture further emphasize its placement within the composition. A smoky smooth finish adorns the stummel and highlights a tantalizing mixture of birdseye and flame grain about the bowl.