Former Smooth Acorn (Unsmoked) Tobacco Pipe

To the Danish government, he is Hans Jonny Nielsen. To childhood friends, he was Hans "Former" Nielsen, nicknamed for English entertainer George Formby. To pipe aficionados, he is simply "Former," and his status as a legend of Danish pipe making will allow him to be recognized simply as "Former" for a long time to come. Former began repairing pipes in Poul Rasmussen's Copenhagen shop at age 15, obtaining a fine education in the performance and utility of a pipe and its individual parts. In 1962, he was hired as a full-time pipe maker at W.Ø. Larsen, where he would advance to the role of supervisor. As Japanese demand for high-grade Danish pipes began to grow, Former began making pipes in his home workshop at the request of Jess and Emil Chonowitsch. He would ultimately leave W.Ø. Larsen to make these pipes full-time, under his own name.

The bowl of this Acorn almost seems as though it could pass for an Egg, given the tall body and generous rounding of the heel, but the point that falls well below the round, upturned shank makes the case that this piece is indeed meant to be named for the nut of the oak tree. The grain, as expected of a Former, is beautiful — leaning cross grain on the bowl that takes on a more flame grain-like orientation on the shank, all of it finished smoothly and stained a light mahogany. The shank climbs up into the short shoulders of a vulcanite stem with a long, generously bent mouthpiece to finish the composition. Unconventionally shaped for an Acorn, and certainly unconventional in its beauty and craftsmanship, this is yet another great work in Former's repertoire.