Tom Eltang: Rusticated Arne Jacobsen Tobacco Pipe

Arne Jacobsen was a Danish architect and furniture designer known for his adherence to Functionalism — an aesthetic school of thought that prizes utility and functionality. Eltang took inspiration from Jacobsen and regularly crafts a trim, featherweight rendition of the Dublin shape modeled in part on a pipe the Danish architect himself used to smoke. Sleek and streamlined in profile, this piece pairs a tall, slender bowl with a subtle forward cant to a low-slung shank-and-stem combination that anchors most of the visual weight up front with soft, elegant lines.

The piece wears the dark, pebbly rusticated finish for which Eltang is known, offering plenty of stimulating texture to delight the fingers, save for the rim, which is left smooth and stained a lighter hue for a subtle note of contrast. The thin, tapered stem of jet-black vulcanite tops off the piece, complementing the dark auburn color palette of the rest of the stummel and terminating at the deftly crafted button. Known for his precise shaping and proportional sense of balance, Tom has here crafted a pipe that conforms elegantly in hand, lending itself quite well to gesticulation or comfortable clenching between the teeth. It's a lively bit of pipe making from one of the Danish masters, and it's certain to become a favorite in any collector's rotation, especially for those looking for a piece that blends practicality with a gorgeous design sense.