Tom Eltang: Smooth Elephant's Foot with Horn Tobacco Pipe

With decades of experience, Tom Eltang's influence on the artisan pipe-making world cannot be understated. His signature Poker and Arne Jacobsen designs are imminently recognizable; his balanced and refined style is inimitable; and his mentorship of younger carvers has both furthered the artisan pipe-making movement and cemented his legacy among the most established and respected artisans in the world. While many of Tom's pipes reflect traditional shapes in classic Danish style, he also fashions a number of Freehand designs, and the Elephant's Foot is among his most prolific, each iteration marked by a certain grace and poise and always boasting exemplary grain, internal engineering, and craftsmanship.

The Elephant's Foot is an ubiquitous artisan pipe shape, having been pioneered by Swedish carver and Sixten Ivarsson student Bo Nordh, and its design is characterized by a tapering Dublin-meets-Pickaxe bowl with panels defining the flanks. When turned upside down, the bowl emulates the sturdy profile of its namesake, and grain orientation is paramount: Cross grain comprises the flanking panels and birdseye populates the fore and aft sections.

This rendition from Tom aligns expertly with the shape's signature aspects, and like his other iterations, it displays an elegant flow through the shank and stem. The shank's pinched midsection adds further curvature to the profile, and it's slight upward curl is balanced by the stem's gentle recurve for paramount smoking balance. Said shank is also extended by a horn military mount, the smoky, earthy hues merging seamlessly with the stummel's deep, chestnut contrast stain and the mortise reinforced by a brass ring inset. The bowl, then, reveals the shape's defining grain orientation with parallel strands of cross grain expanding in tandem with the side panels' upward flare and the curved fore saturated with dizzying birdseye. While not a signature Eltang shape, this rendition is commensurate with others in Tom's portfolio, exuding all the poise and proportional harmony that define his work and elevated by one of his hand-cut, vulcanite stems.