Bruno Nuttens: Handmade Smooth Tulip (AA) Tobacco Pipe

French artisan Bruno Nuttens boasts a delightfully varied portfolio that ranges from understated, serially-produced works of Anglo-French classicism to more expressive, often Danish-inspired pieces made entirely by hand. This Tulip is an example of his handmade work, and it nicely showcases his sleek, slender style, with a wide transition giving way to a tapering shank-and-stem combination. The shank itself starts pencil-thin, making its taper through into the stem all the more impressive and subtly emphasizing the extremely reserved downturn of the cumberland stem's bit. Given the sharply slender silhouette of the aft side pairing, the bowl is this pipe's visual center, the relative fullness of is figure immediately drawing the eye. A firm ridgeline marks the heel, sharpening it significantly through the flanks, and it supports walls that flare reservedly up to a soft, supple, high-set waistline and a domed rim. Dressed in a rich, light stain and smooth finish, the stummel showcases dense flame grain around the bowl and down the flanks of the shank, its bright palette contrasted by the warm tones of the cumberland stem.