Lasse Skovgaard: Sandblasted Mushroom Sitter with Bone and Horn Tobacco Pipe

Pipe making seems to have been Lasse Skovgaard's birthright. As the son of renowned carver Benni Jørgensen, Lasse took to the craft at quite a young age, and by 18, he was carving pipes for the prestigious W.Ø. Larsen workshop in Copenhagen, where he worked alongside mentor and family friend Teddy Knudsen. He honed his skills over time and learned the intricacies of the craft, and a year after he began carving for Larsen, he was fashioning their prestigious Straight Grain pipes. By 2004, at the age of 20, Skovgaard was fashioning pipes under his own name, and he quickly established himself as one of Denmark's premiere carvers.

This Mushroom Sitter showcases the deft line work and sophisticated shaping that Skovgaard built his name on. Like his other Mushroom designs, this piece boasts a wavy, flared rim that presides over a tapered bowl and a sinuously bent shank-and-stem arrangement. The shank and stem take on a vertical posture here that adds a considerable bit of height to the composition and encourages a comfortable smoking posture from which to enjoy the bowl's deep chamber. The entire composition rests on a flat, pedestal-like heel that allows the design to sit stably without the aid of a stand. A dark sandblast dresses the stummel and unveils rippling growth rings across the flanks of the bowl. The shank is extended by a flaring stretch of bone, which adds a touch of warmth to the pipe's color palette. A band of horn accents the base of the saddle stem, its pearly white hues harmonizing well with the bone's complexion.