German Estates: Heiner Nonnenbroich Smooth Bent Brandy (AA) (848) Tobacco Pipe

Born in 1953, Heiner Nonnenbroich was originally a piano teacher, though his experimentation with pipes dates back to the early 1970s. He first began as an artisan in earnest in 2002, crafting about 50 to 70 pipes a year, though he stopped making pipes in 2016, making examples of his work, such as this bent Brandy, difficult to find and desirable. I'm stricken by the muscularity on display here, as the entire composition has been lent a palpable thickness throughout, especially at the shank and stem. The stem is a hearty taper of black vulcanite that's thrust skyward by the lifting shank, arcing demurely at the end of the bit for a comfortable smoking posture, tapering very gently to maintain its robust outline. A lovely, consistent undercurve sweeps forward here, running through into the fore of the bowl as the heel rises to a low-set waist. This waist is marked by an extremely comfortable plumpness which fills out the contours of the hand, while the sloping taper to the rim imbues the shape with a striking outline. Dressed here in a deep, dark, chestnut-hued stain, the stummel reveals a dense pattern of wrapping flame grain around the bowl, while the underside is covered in birdseye, the dark palette here keeping things understated.