Nanna Ivarsson: Smooth Long Shank Tomato with Boxwood (4121) Tobacco Pipe

For the Ivarssons, pipe making has remained a familial tradition for three generations, continued today through the work of Nanna Ivarsson. Her grandfather Sixten is widely considered the progenitor of artisan pipe making, and, at an early age, Nanna spent time with her grandfather, learning the artistry and craftsmanship that set artisan pipes apart. While many of Nanna's pipes often reveal the soft lines and gentle curves endemic to the Danish pipe-making tradition, her pieces also reflect shaping cues that have become associated with the Ivarsson family specifically: most notably, long-shanked examples like this Tomato.

Many pipes within her portfolio, and that of her late father Lars, reflect this elongated aesthetic, pairing a plumply rounded bowl on a lithely stretched shank. Such a design cue adds momentum to the composition and further reinforces the bowl's comparatively more robust and bulbous nature. As in many of these shapes, the shank tapers gradually toward the transition before erupting into a substantially rounded bowl of palm-filling proportions. In profile, said bowl displays a squat demeanor, but from above, its broad shaping is made all the more apparent in relation to the shank's taper at the transition, displaying a perfectly circular orientation when viewed aerially.

Such dimensions make for a soft and hearty in-hand substance, but the rest of the pipe takes on a much more streamlined style. Even though the shank flares toward the stem, it remains sleek and trim, with a wedding band of boxwood offering a slight accent of color and shaping as its rounded lines interrupt the shank's trajectory. Those lines are continued, though, by the domed stem base — its soft curves mirroring that of the bowl and aligning with many of Nanna's other pipes before diminishing into the hand-cut mouthpiece's comfortable button. An auburn stain reveals a stunning cross-grain pattern, with birdseye saturating the flanks. It calls to mind the characteristic grain orientation of the Blowfish shape but without any ridgelines or facets for a sublimely smooth texture, with the lighter tones of the finish echoing the boxwood's pale hues.