Rinaldo: Sahara Bent Egg (YYY) (Titania) Tobacco Pipe

A lovely offering from Italy's Rinaldo workshop, this bent Egg is a rather unique interpretation of the classically Danish shape, altering the outline a good deal while keeping things fluid and sinuous. The shank and stem combination here are afforded the poised aquiline curve of a Hawkbill, granting the aft end of this piece a great deal of visual intrigue. The duo's svelte build and gracile posture ebb out from a low-set transition that lifts the bowl up from a sweeping heel, the walls of the bowl pushing out from here reinforcing the plumpness present up front. These walls feature a low-set waistline that informs an arcing taper to the rim, rising to nearly two and a half inches tall and providing ample contours for the hand to appreciate. In addition, it serves as an excellent canvas for the Sahara sandblast that dresses the briar, its dense stacks of growth rings providing texture and the earthy stain matching its coffee-hued stem.