Danish Estates: Jess Chonowitsch Sandblasted Pot Tobacco Pipe

Jess Chonowitsch is a name that is instantly recognizable in the realm of Danish pipe making, if not the greater pipe world as a whole, and is synonymous with superlative quality, exceptional shaping, and unparalleled smoking properties. This reputation has not been earned easily, and is the result of a career more than five decades in the making, getting his start repairing pipes for Poul Rasmussen before moving on to work at the W.Ø. Larsen workshop after Rasmussen's death. Rather than staying at the venerable firm, Chonowitsch found himself in the workshop of Sixten Ivarsson, the father of both modern artisan pipe carving and Danish pipe design and, after two years, after Chonowitsch learned the importance of mouthpiece design and fit and finish, he began making pipes in a small workshop together with his father, becoming an artisan in his own right.

This Pot design is one that we've seen before from Chonowitsch, presenting with a muscular but compact look that emphasizes the shaping quite well by keeping the eye able to see much of its build all at once. Despite the dimensions here, Jess has managed to lend the bowl and shank a fair deal of robustness, with a supple rounding of edges and a focus on crafting comfortable curves that not only affords this piece an excellent feel in hand, but gives the impression of softness about the briar as a whole. Not only this, but there's a keen visual balance that has been imparted into this pipe, though the shank's length seems to pull visual weight back from the bowl. In addition, the base of the stem extends the weighted length of the combination a touch, but this is immediately won back by the bowl due to its breadth, making up for the relative shortness iconic to the Pot shape as a whole.

The underside of this pipe is really nicely rounded, rather than being flattened, even in spots, but still sits quite stably, rocking back into an upright position if tipped or disturbed. While this is quite the practical feature, yes, it also serves to enhance that aforementioned softness, as the heel slowly grows outward and upward, sweeping into the fore wall of the bowl and rounding out the look of the briar there from every angle. The walls of the bowl take on an easy taper to an inflated, slightly forward-slanting rim which slopes downward just a bit as it nears the chamber, the dynamism created by the shape of the walls magnified by this. Dressing the briar here is a crisp sandblast and chestnut stain that reveals dense undulations of growth rings throughout the stummel, introducing a wealth of texture for the fingers to appreciate. The rim, however, is finished smooth, lending some textural contrast and revealing a peppering of birdseye.