Tom Eltang: Smooth Bent Dublin with Mammoth (Snail) (M) Tobacco Pipe

Perhaps one of the most recognized names in pipe making, Tom Eltang is a prolific Danish artisan whose career spans over four decades and whose breadth of experience is nothing short of astonishing. Tom has always held a deep appreciation for the art of pipe making, as well as the art inherent in pipes themselves, recalling memories of gazing longingly at pictures that were displayed in the window of a local pipe store at the ripe age of six. At age eleven he carved his first pipe from a Pipe-Dan kit, though his first real experience with the pipe world was at age 16, when he became apprenticed to Anne-Julie. After this, he additionally worked for Pipe-Dan as a pipe repairer, then for Stanwell as a traveling carver, eventually starting his own workshop and carving pipes under his name.

The bent Dublin is a shape which Eltang is quite adept at crafting, the profile having a well-represented spot within his body of work, though each of his iterations on the shape are quite a bit different from the one crafted previous. This particular example is one of the most striking examples of the shape I've seen from Eltang, not by virtue of its exuberant shaping or ostentatious ornamentation, but its sophisticated subtlety and effortless fusion of its namesake with one of Eltang's signature shapes: the Eskimo. A wide transition here leads into an extremely compressed shank, one which spreads out to an impressive breadth, the middle possessed of a rounded peak which is soft and comfortable in the hand and that lends the silhouette an ovoid outline from the smoker's perspective. At either flank of the shank, the briar is framed by a pair of ridgelines to create slim, smoothly flowing panels which outline the shank's gentle upward lift toward the stem. Said stem is a slender half-saddle of jet-black vulcanite whose base has been accented with a generous band of vibrant blue mammoth, the stem offering a comfortable smoking posture and enhancing the sinuous flow of this profile.

Up front, the bowl stands atop a lifting heel, said heel situated at the end of a slightly distended underside, calling to mind certain Volcano renditions and offering some understated curvature that underscores the presence of the bowl. Said bowl cants forward gently out of the transition and flares out toward a broad, expansive rim marked by a crisp ridge, the rim itself taking on an easy dome toward a swift chamfer into the tobacco chamber. The cleanness of line present in this composition is nothing short of impressive, and Eltang's mastery of form and keen eye for consistent lines keep this piece both supremely attractive and comfortable in hand. A snail-grade pipe, this piece has additionally earned the "M" designation from the Danish artisan, signifying only his best works and those with the most impressive grain. Dressed in a warm, vibrant contrast stain, there's no shortage of phenomenal grain present here, as straight and flame grain wraps around the flanks, with straight grain across the bowl that's so dense it looks like a forest. Underneath, the underside acts as a basin for a vast ocean of birdseye that's just as, if not more, impressive than the grain above it.