Smooth Acorn with Bamboo (1919) Tobacco Pipe

Though the use of bamboo is common in the Danish pipemaking tradition, having been pioneered by Sixten Ivarsson himself, we don't see too many bamboo-adorned pipes from his granddaughter Nanna. The Danish master rarely adorns her pipes with visually heavy accents, opting instead for more subtle accoutrements of boxwood, mastodon, and occasionally silver and prioritizing superb shaping and immaculate craftsmanship.

This Acorn from Nanna, while utilizing a lengthy three knuckles of bamboo, still adheres to that aforementioned prioritization. She's beautifully married the bamboo to the briar of the stummel and vulcanite of the stem, the organic section seamlessly incorporated into and contributing to the design cues of the overall shape. This aesthetic coherence begins with the saddle portion of the stem — Ivarsson has shaped it at a slight angle, matching the alternating, offset cants of the bamboo knuckles and continuing the rhythmic spacing they display. Said rhythm leads the eye through the shank to the bowl's heel, the curving bottom line of the last knuckle progressing seamlessly into the protruding spur.

Above, then, rises a forward-inclined, squat take on the Acorn shape. The bowl presents a substantial feel in hand thanks to thick insulating walls, and the grain orientation bespeaks Nanna's adherence to and skill with shaping according the block's natural patterns, the grain on the flanks following the same urging trajectory while the broad rim is dotted with birdseye, further emphasized by a contrast stain. The entire form is an inherently dynamic piece, and Nanna has balanced the composition well by slightly bending the stem to inform the bowl's forward momentum. Beautifully complete in profile and comfortable in hand, it checks off all the marks of a gorgeous artisan high-grade, from artistic design, to excellent presentation, to superior engineering.