Lasse Skovgaard: Smooth Bent Egg Tobacco Pipe

Son of renowned artisan Benni Jørgensen, Lasse Skovgaard followed in the footsteps of his father, starting work at the W.Ø.Larsen workshop at 16, making horn tampers and trying his hand at carving pipes when he had the time. After nearly 100 attempts, he was finally pleased with his work, and, at 18 was finally able to carve for Larsen, making Select grade pieces, and then Straight Grain pipes at 19. After urging from family friend Teddy Knudsen, he took his own pipes to the Chicago Pipe show in 2004. Both that year and the following year he sold out his entire stock and, emboldened by his showings, established himself as an artisan in his own right, producing pieces such as this sinuously bent Egg.

Thoroughly Danish in style, this bent Egg showcases a plunging tapered stem that meets a flared shank end, meeting it at a detail that I have come to both expect and admire from Skovgaard: a domed and inflated shank face that allows the stem base to recess ever so slightly. This gives the impression of a softness to the briar that reinforces a general soft feeling throughout the composition, as well as making the ridgeline at the shank end a touch more noticeable. By no means is this a small pipe, at over six and a half inches long, but the shank's fluid upturn from the cheeked transition and the steep bend of the stem give it a wonderful posture for jaw-hanging despite its size. Said transition's cheeking continues through the underside of the bowl, visually extending the shank's own underside and fostering a feeling that it is cradling it, as well as magnifying the effect of the lifted heel, lifting the bowl into prominence.

The bowl itself is quite large, with a supple rounding on all sides that makes it a pleasure in the hand, the subtle taper to the rim affording the transition extra space to drape a thumb. Much of that aforementioned softness can be seen in the bowl, as its low-set waistline reinforces the overall plumpness of the briar there, and its easy curves highlight a sense of flow present in the travel of the shank and stem. A warm and vibrant auburn-mahogany stain dresses the briar here, starkly contrasted by the black stem and highlighting some lovely grain all around, with windswept grain encircling the bowl entirely.