Benni Jorgensen: Smooth Bent Apple Tobacco Pipe

After suffering a back injury in 1980, Benni Jørgensen was forced to retired from working as a carpenter and pursue a new career. He found himself, like many Danish artisans did, at the esteemed W.Ø. Larsen workshop, where he worked for twenty years crafting the shop's finest pipes. Now, Jørgensen crafts pipes under his own name and boasts over 40 years of experience in the craft. His work showcases a penchant for blending soft features with pronounced lines, and his shapes tend to be organic and gestural in their composition. This bent Apple is a fine example of the carver's work, and it displays the same curling profile found in many of his shapes.

The voluptuous, poised bowl sits proudly at the front of a upturned, ovoid shank and a arcing saddle stem of jet-black vulcanite. While the shank extends through the transition and seemingly foists the bowl upwards, the base of the bowl still possesses enough definition to keep it visually independent within the overall composition. The firm ridgelines along the flanks of the shank offer a subtle sense of structure to the overall composition that offsets the rounded qualities of the bowl and the fluid nature of the shape in profile. The design is quite compact in terms of length, coming in under five inches from bowl to bit, making it ideal for on-the-go smoking. The stummel wears a warm, handsome smooth finish that displays stellar flame grain across the flanks of the bowl and a wealth of birdseye on the underside of the shank.