Tom Eltang: Smooth Calabash with Boxwood (Snail) Tobacco Pipe

The first time I examined one of Tom Eltang's briar Calabashes, I was dumbfounded at the workmanship involved, and that impression has not dimmed. The walls of the bowl are thin and perfectly consistent in dimension, echoing the form that would appear if rendered in gourd instead of briar and maintaining the same smoking properties that gourd Calabashes have built a reputation on. The broad rim is presented in boxwood domed around the briar tobacco chamber, providing a pale contrast against the darker, contrast-stained flanks and substituting in wood the meerschaum caps of the original designs. With a gradual transition to a slender shank-and-stem combination, it presents a sinuous character, with the wide bowl monopolizing the piece's visual impression as the saddle stem curves gently downward for excellent balance.