Nørding: Handmade Smooth Bent Dublin with Silver (14) Tobacco Pipe

Nording's Handmade series leans more toward traditionally inclined shapes, but readily displays the Danish carver's creative shaping style and penchant for bold proportions. This bent Dublin is an excellent example of the prestigious line, with the stout shank curling into the tall, flaring bowl. The bowl, when viewed from above, actually takes on a lenticular form, with compressed flanks and a sharper fore and aft, adding a distinctive playful touch to the otherwise robust and muscular shaping of the bowl. The stummel's deep chestnut stain wonderfully highlights the tight streaks of vertical grain that dance around the bowl's flanks and showcases the natural patterns which earned this piece a grade of "14". Two bright bands of sterling silver adorn the shank end and stem base of this pipe, with the stem itself comprising a demurely downturned taper of jet-black acrylic.