Lasse Skovgaard: Smooth Bent Egg Tobacco Pipe

This bent Egg is packed with Danish design cues and hallmarks of precise craftsmanship, exactly as I would expect of a second-generation pipe artisan with Lasse Skovgaard's storied pedigree and years of experience. Lasse started in the famed W.Ø. Larsen workshop, working alongside greats like Teddy Knudsen, quickly earning the distinction of making Larsen's Straight Grain pipes. At the encouragement of Knudsen, Skovgaard began making and selling pipes under his own name, and quickly found people bought them faster than he could make them. It's easy to see why, with examples like this, the bowl here rounded just like its namesake in nature and paired to an equally organic, smoothly-tapering shank.

The cheeking often associated with Danish design is amplified here by the shank's relative height, the bowl filling the palm with a comforting presence, and the clever arc of the shank provides negative space perfect to park a digit just above. The vertical grain swirls just slightly as it rises around the bowl, the plump curvature of which provides the perfect canvas on which to showcase both dense striations and mesmerizing, tightly packed birdseye.

The fit and finish throughout are exemplary, the shank seamlessly flowing into the expansion ring at the stem's base, said stem then completing an S-curve profile with precision. The mouthpiece flares to a fishtail in breadth, while reducing to a svelte height as it curls gently towards a hand-detailed lip button. A smooth finish and auburn stain immortalize the grain's beauty, completing a presentation so beautiful it's hard to look away.