Tom Eltang: Rusticated Poker with Bamboo Tobacco Pipe

Tom Eltang's many talents speak to a man of great experience, one who has worked with some of the foremost names in Danish pipe making, all of which is exactly the case with the respected artisan. At 16, Eltang apprenticed under Anne Julie before repairing pipes for Pipe-Dan, and then touring Europe for Stanwell, demonstrating pipe making at events in tobacco shops. During this time, Eltang's eye for shaping, sense of pipe function, and his own personal style evolved, and, when he finally decided to make pipes on his own, he attained a reputation for crafting fine smoking instruments, such as this Poker. One of his "smoking machine" Pokers, the design is a signature for him, meant to champion practicality and excellent, consistent smoking.

Eltang is no stranger to fitting his pipes with bamboo extensions and, in fact, this addition to his Pokers is undoubtedly the most prevalent in his usage of the dense grass. The saddle stem that begins this piece is attached to the grass with an extended tenon, the organic material flanked by two trim bands of black vulcanite at both ends, with either side continuing divots in the bamboo's surface for a further melding of the natural with the man made. The shank is petite, transitioning swiftly into the bowl, its cylindrical shape resting on a slanted, flattened heel which allows stable sitting and gently cants the composition forward, imbuing it with a gentle momentum and palpable dynamism. The chamber which the bowl holds is capacious, the rim that leads into it both domed and chamfered at the edges, hinting at a slight softness that exists in contrast to the rather structural profile of the rest of the piece. The bowl wears Tom's signature rustication, with craggy divots on either flank and horizontal striations on the fore and aft, all stained a dark chestnut, while the rim, shank, and heel are kept smooth, their lighter stain contrasting the darker hues of their surroundings, the entire palette contrasted further by the three pale knuckles of bamboo extending the shank.