Lasse Skovgaard: Sandblasted Bent Egg Tobacco Pipe

Lasse Skovgaard was born into the pipe world. The son of legendary carver Benni Jørgensen, Skovgaard began his journey into the world of artisan pipes at the age of 16, crafting buffalo horn tampers for W.Ø. Larsen and carving his first few pipes in his spare time. After much practice and around 100 more pipes, he was hired to carve Larsen's two-tone and select grades and, a year later at age 19, was promoted to carving the marque's renowned Straight Grain pieces. After being encouraged by family friend Teddy Knudsen, Lasse took 12 pipes he had carved himself to the 2004 Chicago Pipe Show and sold every single piece, setting the stage for the next year where he once more sold out his stock of 75 pipes. Since then, Skovgaard has gained a reputation for his excellent workmanship, the latest example of which is this bent Egg, a piece that combines elements of firm structure and fluid softness, the outline speaking to a gentle flow of momentum from the button to the rim.

The stem is demurely bent, nestling into the chamfered, lenticular shank end to meet the mortise, exuding a naturalistic aesthetic, as if the vulcanite were growing from the briar. The shank end tapers swiftly, then stops, curling to the cheeked transition gently, the cheeking giving the shank a look of cradling the bowl, holding it aloft with a ginger reverence that urges it forward slightly. The bowl itself features a mid-set waistline which gives it an incredibly egg-like outline, apropos of the shape, and tapers to the rim, the whole of it sitting on a sweeping heel, further developing the pipe's momentum by tilting the bowl slightly forward. The rim is softly chamfered to the chamber and finished smooth, both of its flanks dipping slightly lower than the fore and aft side, giving it a bit of extra visual dynamism via the center's dip. The profile of the briar is possessed of a continuous undercurve that aids in magnifying the sinuousness of the profile, and the structure provided by the shank's flare and the sweeping ridgeline that runs from the shank end to the rim, through the right flank of the bowl, is contrasted beautifully by the flow of the briar and the transition's cheek. The stummel is dressed in an auburn sandblast that reveals concentric growth rings on the bowl, their undulations continuing through the shank, its shape realized in such a way that each striation is carried upward with its curl, unifying the visual surface of the pipe and providing some lovely contrast with the shank face and rim.