Tine Balleby: Sandblasted Bent Apple with Mammoth Tobacco Pipe

The second generation of Balleby pipe makers, Tine Balleby came to the craft through her father Kurt Balleby. She spent years assisting his pipe making — helping with the finishing and stem work — and apprenticing under him to practice fashioning her own pipes. Her work draws on the same quality standards as her father's work, employing dozens of processes to ensure the utmost precision and longevity in every pipe's finish, stem, and engineering, and Tine's own creative eye and artistry enhances the already recognizable and established Balleby aesthetic.

A beautiful example of the signature Balleby approach to bent shapes, this Apple features a distinctive heel that continues the lines of the shank and props the bowl up to further emphasize the lower curvature. It's a distinctive design cue from the Ballebys, and Tine's iteration here highlights the cheeking around the pipe's transition, giving way to the lithely upturned shank. To contrast the stummel's dark, grain-defining sandblast, she's accented the shank end with a portion of mammoth that has been intricately carved to match the shaping of the stem base, further harmonizing the composition and bringing the stem into the overall design.