Danish Estates: Tom Eltang Smooth Bent Dublin Tobacco Pipe

Perhaps one of the most recognized names in pipe making, Tom Eltang is a prolific Danish artisan whose career spans over four decades and whose breadth of experience is nothing short of astonishing. Tom has always held a deep appreciation for the art of pipe making, as well as the art inherent in pipes themselves, recalling memories of gazing longingly at pictures that were displayed in the window of a local pipe store at the ripe age of six. At age eleven he carved his first pipe from a Pipe-Dan kit, though his first real experience with the pipe world was at age 16, when he became apprenticed to Anne-Julie. After this, he additionally worked for Pipe-Dan as a pipe repairer, then for Stanwell as a traveling carver, eventually starting his own workshop and carving pipes under his name.

The bent Dublin is a shape which Eltang is quite adept at crafting, the profile having a well-represented spot within his body of work, though each of his iterations on the shape are quite a bit different from the one crafted previous. This particular example is one of the more reserved offerings we've seen, though it maintains that particular Eltang style for which his pipes are known, speaking to the aesthetic of Danish Functionalism in its easy lines, demure curvature, and relative lack of adornment. A wide transition gives way to a gently tapering, ovoid shank which lifts to meet a demurely curved saddle stem of jet-black vulcanite. The shank's understated ovoid shaping keeps the pipe looking sleek in profile, though it maintains a bit of added muscularity from an aerial perspective, balancing the visual weight of this piece nicely. Supported by this length of shank and stem is a broad bowl that stands atop a rounded, sweeping heel, its upward growth marked by a gentle flare outward to a firm ridge just below the domed taper to the rim. Said rim not only affords this pipe a touch of softness through its shaping near the top, but its ridgeline works to temper the overtly rounded contours on display through the rest of this composition. Dressed in one of Eltang's signature contrast stains, this piece displays some beautiful grain, with flame and straight grain wrapping around the circumference of the bowl, while the rim is covered in a vast field of swirling birdseye.