Kent Rasmussen: Smooth Bent Egg Tobacco Pipe

This style of strongly sweeping bent Egg shape is a true Kent Rasmussen signature, though one he also seems to experiment with considerably from one iteration to the next. Here we see it in perhaps its most dramatic form, really placing its continuous, arcing silhouette front and center — realizing that gorgeous profile by lending it a pronounced lip along the fore of the rim, then framing the shape's tight, curling gesture in hard, defined lines running from rim to shank end, where they terminate in the fin-like upward kick of the stem base. Taken together, it allows the eye to follow the form in one continuous movement from one end to the other, while also implying a fair degree of movement and action. The form itself is quite comfortable in hand, especially with the rounded swell of the bowl along the aft, its full contours fitting naturally with those of the thumb and hand. What's more, as with any Kent pipe, Rasmussen's done it all while paying very close attention to the block's grain pattern, using the shape's defining lines to frame the briar's crossgrain and birdseye beautifully. Excellent piece!