Smooth Bent Apple (Jewel of Denmark) (A) Tobacco Pipe

Kai Nielsen is the eldest son of Bari pipe factory founder Viggo Nielsen and started working at Bari for "pocket money" in his teens before joining the factory full-time in 1972, at the age of 21. Now a pipe artisan of many years in his own right, Kai's designs are thoroughly Danish, as is this bent Egg, which Kai awarded his elite designation: Jewel of Denmark. The "A" sub-grade further designates this as a particularly good Jewel of Denmark piece, second only to "X."

Kai found great flame grain to decorate the flanks of this bent Apple and finished it smoothly with a light mahogany stain to maximize the smoker's ability to appreciate it. Birdseye coats the heel of the bowl and top and bottom of the shank as a bridge between the stretches of flame grain. The bowl is generously rounded at the fore and straight at the aft as it falls to the top of the shank, and the shank upturns sharply into the lightly bent, half-saddle vulcanite stem that flares outward from its tall shoulders. It's a relatively compact pipe at 4.86 inches in length, just outside Nosewarmer territory, but substantially well-designed and well-executed.