Danish Estates: S. Bang Smooth Bent Brandy (9) (Unsmoked) Tobacco Pipe

After Svend Bang retired from pipe making, long-time employees Per Hansen and Ulf Noltensmeier took over production of S. Bang pipes and continued the legacy of the prestigious workshop. For nearly fifty years, Hansen and Noltensmeier enjoyed a considerable reputation for their elegant shaping and expert engineering before the pair eventually retired in 2019. This bent Brandy is a fine example of what made S. Bang's pipe so cherished: sleek line work, soft curves, and an immediately attractive profile.

Measuring nearly six inches in total length, this piece is rather expansive, and it retains a sense of palpable muscularity around the tall, curvaceous bowl and transition. The bowl tapers gradually from its plump, broad heel to its taut rim, and, in doing so, said bowl takes on a floral, almost Tulip-like, appearance, a slight compression at the flanks giving it a unique, ovoid profile aerially. The curling shank lifts out of the transition with a palpable thickness, but takes on a sleek taper through its travel into the stem base, with the stem's expansion into a domed cap before stepping down into a saddle bit reintroducing the musculature of the stummel. It's all presented in a warm, traditional smooth finish that highlights the handsome streaks of flame grain on either flank of the bowl. Unsmoked.