Tom Eltang: Smooth Elephant's Foot Churchwarden with Bamboo Tobacco Pipe

Tom Eltang's Elephant's Foot designs have seemed to have gotten progressively more and more svelte over the years, as the carver has lent less of a pronounced sense of curve to the bowl form's fore and aft, coupled with a more subtle sense of taper from rim to heel. This example is especially petite too, relative to those that have come before it, but this is quite fitting, given that it is paired to a Churchwarden shank extension and saddle stem. The characteristically elongated design is well-served by a more compact bowl here to my eye, and it doesn't hurt that the design is as comforting and easy in hand as this one. In addition to all this, the carver's gorgeously warm contrast pairs wonderfully to the honey-blonde hues of the hepta-knuckled stuff, framed at the opposing end by a slender slip of downturned saddle stem. A beautiful piece from a legendary carver.