Tom Eltang: Smooth Pac-Man with Bamboo (Snail) Tobacco Pipe

A design similar to the Disc or Shield with strong, lenticular qualities, this Pac-Man from Tom Eltang is a sharp-lined, playful piece that exemplifies both the Danish carver's masterful shaping and fun-loving personality. Imagine a pinched Opera bowl, but instead of positioning the shank in line with the vertically pressed axis, it's oriented perpendicular, the bulbous, rounded sections of the bowl now the fore and aft rather than the flanks. Wrapping the bowl around the flanks from the rim through the heel is a well defined, incredibly crisp ridgeline. Behind trails a long stretch of three bamboo knuckles, extending the shank to meet an almost equally lengthy stem, its downturned saddle orientation offering a comfortable smoking posture while keeping the aft long, fluid, and organic. Full of Danish curves and suppleness, it's a piece that's full of Eltang's sleek-lined, minimalist style, even despite being a non-standard shape. As for the name: When viewing the bowl head on and tilted 90 degrees, the outline and concave rim clearly display the open-mouthed arcade hero, ready to gobble up your favorite tobacco blend. Here, the reminiscence is a bit more subtle. Rather than rendering the bowl in a perfect circle, Eltang has instead extended the height of the bowl to create an ovoid shape that maintains its dipped rim. That feature alone makes this piece a rarity, being the first of its kind we've seen, but it is additionally the only example of the shape we've seen to have received Eltang's coveted "Snail" stamp, denoting excellent quality in terms of both shaping and grain. The latter can be seen beneath the stummel's warm, vibrant contrast stain, something that reveals wrapping cross grain through the top, bottom, and flanks of the bowl, while the fore and aft are awash in dense oceans of birdseye.