Former: Smooth Billiard with Silver Tobacco Pipe

Hans "Former" Nielsen is a living legend — a Danish pipe maker who has honed his craft for over sixty years and earned worldwide renown for creating fine smoking instruments. Former's reputation for perfection precedes him, and his shaping style showcases a carefully considered artistry and extremely clean line work, marrying refined aesthetics to internal engineering that guarantees phenomenal smoking every time. Former's takes on timeless silhouettes are almost always classic interpretations, and these classic takes on timeless forms make up the majority of his portfolio: all rendered with the artisan's balanced and classically Danish style. This Billiard is a bit different compared to examples from makers of more explicitly Anglo-French leanings, presenting with a broad, robust silhouette whose visual weight is focused squarely on the bowl.

This bowl stands on a broad, muscular heel whose gradual curl into the fore wall affords it a bold, rotund look and naturally leads the eye toward the low-set waistline. Said waist marks the start of the walls' arcing taper to the rim, their comfortable arc and ample thickness making for a delightful feel in hand and lending the composition a look immediately reminiscent of the Apple: though the impressive breadth of the bowl's form calls to mind the Pot. A wide transition out back leaves plenty of room to drape a digit if necessary, and there's some subtle cinching around the lower flanks of the walls that enhances the bowl's soft roundness. From out of this transition, a slender, cylindrical shank reaches toward a striking junction accent of stylized silver, complete with a domed collar at the end, its vibrant tones mirrored by a matching band of silver at the base of the stem. Said stem is a short saddle of black vulcanite whose base is understatedly highlighted by an expansion ring that matches the outline of the collared silver junction accent, highlighting a bit of negative space between the two to balance a bit of this pipe's visual weight. Dressed in a vibrant, auburn-tinged smooth finish, the stummel showcases flickering streaks of flame grain flowing down the sides of the shank and wrapping around the walls of the bowl, all while swirling birdseye dominates the underside.