Lasse Skovgaard: Smooth Asymmetrical Bent Dublin Tobacco Pipe

The son of renowned artisan Benni Jørgensen, Skovgaard has pipe making in his blood, starting with W.Ø. Larsen at 16 where he made tampers and carved pipes in his spare time to practice the art. Eventually, he began to meet the exacting standards of both Larsen and his father, moving on to make pipes for the Danish workshop at 18 and rising swiftly to begin crafting their coveted Straight Grain pieces at 19 years old. After being urged by family friend Teddy Knudsen, Skovgaard began carving his own pipes, taking a small selection to the Chicago Pipe Show and selling out two years in a row, starting his career as an artisan carver.

This bent Dublin is a good example of Skovgaard's work, showcasing the organic curvature that he so often imbues into his pipes and doing so with a striking artistic flair. Thoroughly asymmetrical, this piece features a ridgeline on the left flank of the stummel that starts at the shank end and plunges through the shank itself, lifting at the fore as the bowl blooms out from its sweeping heel and coming to rest at the rim. This ridge lends the shank face a teardrop shape and firms up the feel of the left side as a whole, while the right flank of the stummel remains smooth throughout. Much of the asymmetry here is seen at the bowl, which, in addition to its pointed left side, is dipped there as well. This dip is far shallower in comparison to the one present at the right, with the ridgeline wrapping around the rim revealing this dip in full clarity before it travels around and lifts at the aft. The flared shank mirrors the expansion of the rim at the rear portion of this pipe, though without the waviness of its big sibling, and it's paired here to a demurely downturned, expansion-ring-fitted vulcanite stem. Dressed in a warm auburn stain, this pipe showcases some handsome grain throughout, though its broad rim displays a stunning expanse of birdseye.