Tom Eltang: Rusticated Poker with Bamboo Tobacco Pipe

Tom Eltang made his first pipe at the age of 11 in the late 1960s, and at the age of 16, apprenticed to renowned Danish carver Anne Julie. Now, he is one of the most talented and prolific carvers in the world of pipes, turning out high-grade pieces with unnerving precision and mentoring younger carvers in the craft. This Poker is one of his signature shapes, displaying a tall stack-like bowl sitting on a slightly canted heel, paired to a pencil-thin shank-and-stem-combination.

Immediately recognizable as an Eltang, it's dressed in one of his signature undulating rustications and a dark stain, with the inflated rim and shank transition left smooth and lighter to highlight sweeping cross grain. Eltang incorporates bamboo into many of his designs and does so to fine effect here, with two pale knuckles forming the majority of the shank. He has expertly continued the bamboo section's wave-like profile in a thin black ring at both ends, as well as with the briar and jet-black stem, creating unparalleled line work. The stem is a lithe saddle, hand-cut from a vulcanite rod, like all of Eltang's mouthpieces, to promote an effortless draw. Lightweight and well-executed inside and out, Tom shows us once again how a top-notch clencher should be made.