Tom Eltang: Rusticated Poker Tobacco Pipe

Tom Eltang's signature Poker design is among the world's most recognizable and celebrated pipe-shape renditions. Often dressed in Eltang's craggy rustication, the shape merges sleek, minimalist lines with an evocative texture across a convenient size, and there are good reasons why Tom himself prefers the form when smoking in his workshop, dubbing the shape his "smoking machine": It's exceptionally lightweight, sits sturdily upright, and provides rugged reliability. This particular rendition is his classic iteration of the design, free of adorning accents to let the trim silhouette and dramatic texture take center stage. The majority of the stummel wears a dark stain, but the inflated rim is smooth and lighter of hue. Such an aesthetic is common among Danish pipe making, including Tom's work, and the combination serves to present elegant contrast across this pipe's color palette, while the textured rustication remains rugged. Canted forward slightly above the angled heel, the bowl is perfectly cylindrical and houses a narrow tobacco chamber; the shank matches the bowl, then, in shape but with a reduced diameter, and it's fitted to a trim saddle stem — Tom known for the comfort of his buttons.