Lasse Skovgaard: Sandblasted Bent Apple Tobacco Pipe

Lasse Skovgaard's formal foray into pipe making, like so many of his Danish peers, began when he took a job at the venerated W.Ø. Larsen workshop. Lasse also benefited from his father Benni Jørgensen's teachings, as well as from Teddy Knudsen — both established pipe makers in their own rights. Lasse went into business for himself as a pipe artisan in 2004 and has been making fine Danish pipes ever since.

An organic take on the bent Apple, this piece presents a charmingly plump, forward-canted, and bulbous bowl that displays supple curves and a quite subtle taper to its subtly concave rim. Voluptuous in hand and with cheeking at the transition, the bowl is perched at the end of a sweeping, gestural, and lifting shank, the lines of which wrap under the heel. It's topped by a vulcanite stem, its base gently angled for further flourishing detail. The stummel is wearing a low-profile, dark Danish sandblast, highlighting handsome growth rings, while the smooth, mahogany-stained rim and band at the shank end lend contrast.